As it happened: Hamas releases 24 hostages; four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas under way

• In exchange, Israel has released more than 30 Palestinian prisoners, including women, some of whom have been convicted by Israel of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces. Others, including teenagers, were jailed but not yet convicted for offences such as throwing stones.

• The four-day truce deal that is now into its second day has allowed some fuel and other supplies into Gaza. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 litres of fuel into the Hamas-run strip for humanitarian use for the duration of the ceasefire. But humanitarian group Palestine Red Crescent says that’s not even scratching the surface of Gaza’s needs.

• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he welcomed the developments, adding that it was important all countries continued working towards “a sustainable ceasefire and a long-term, enduring peace”. Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated her call for all hostages to be released. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said Israel now needs to release the 2000 or so Palestinians held by Israel in administrative detention without charge.

• More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in the war so far, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. Around 1200 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority during Hamas’ initial incursion into Israel on October 7.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will press ahead with the war after the ceasefire expires. Hamas leaders have expressed similar sentiments. Despite this, US President Joe Biden said he was hopeful the current truce would last longer than four days.

• Israel said it expected Hamas to release more hostages later today, and that it has contacted the family members of those on the list of hostages to be freed. However, the exact number of people expected to be released was not immediately available. CNN has reported the second round owould include at least 10 women and children.

Her relatives were not among those freed during the first release.

Levy has put her life on pause to devote herself to fighting for her family’s release – her nephews, aged 10 months and 4 years, were some of the youngest people taken captive. The occupational therapist, who moved out of a targeted southern Israeli community two months before Hamas’ attack, said she will keep battling until all her relatives return.

Dani Miran – whose son Omri was taken hostage – has been distraught over his son’s wellbeing. With the unbearable uncertainty and without a sign of life for seven weeks, he is plagued by difficult thoughts.

“My son is not on the list. He’s 46 years old, and I hope that he is in a health condition where he can cope with all the hardship that there is there, that they didn’t wound him, didn’t torture him and didn’t do things that are inhuman,” Miran said.

For many families, the news of a deal has sparked a mix of emotions: grief in the cases where they don’t expect their loved ones to be freed, and hope that it may lead to further releases.

“I wish that all of them would come back, and I believe that all of them will come back. But we must have patience, and just be strong,” said Yaakov Argamani, whose daughter Noa, 26, was taken captive with dozens of other young adults from a music festival.

Many families have said they cannot endure listening to the news because all the twists and turns of the negotiations are incapacitating.

“It’s like a rollercoaster,” said Eyal Nouri, whose aunt Adina Moshe, 72, was among those released yesterday. Earlier, Nouri had said that he did not expect her to be among those freed. Moshe’s husband, Said, was killed on October 7.

The nightmare for many won’t end, even if their relatives are released, Nouri said.

After the joy of the reunion, those freed will need to reckon with the trauma of their captivity, their dead loved ones, their destroyed communities and their country at war.

“She has nothing. No clothes, no house, no husband, no town. Nothing,” said Nouri. Once Adina is released, she’ll need “to build her life from scratch, at 72 years old. Our lives are completely different”.

AP