As we've just been reporting, the release of a second group of Israeli hostages by Hamas, which was supposed to have taken place this afternoon, has been delayed.

It's not yet clear how long this delay will last.

Yesterday, 24 hostages were freed - they included 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and one Filipino national. In exchange, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons.

It was expected that a similar process would happen today.

Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has accused Israel of not following the terms of the agreement for hostage releases.

It says this is one of the reasons that it has delayed the release of Israeli hostages today. The other reason relates to aid trucks in north Gaza, it says.

The Israel Defense Forces is yet to comment.

Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, says it has decided to delay the release of the second batch of hostages until Israel commits to letting aid lorries into northern Gaza.

We'll bring you more as we get it.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Tel Aviv

Relatives and friends of those being held by Hamas in Gaza have been gathering outside the Museum of Art in Tel Aviv, in a plaza that is now know as Hostages Square, hours ahead of the expected release of another group of captives.

Here, empty yellow chairs represent the hostages while posters with their faces have been attached to walls, lampposts and railings, next to the omnipresent slogan "Bring them home now".

Sigalit Salminis is waiting for news related to her nephew, 39-year-old Carmel Gat, who was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri, hoping that she could be included in the groups of people to be freed as part of the truce between Israel and Hamas.

“I’m optimistic because this is the start of [the process] for our people to come home. We’re also worried because people are still in Hamas’s hands but we want to think this is the beginning of the end,” she told me.

“We want everyone to come back. We’re all one big family now. They’re people who were taken from their homes. They’re innocent people.”

She also said the hoped the Red Cross, which has helped in the transfer of hostages, would be given access to those who remained in captivity.

Tonight, a rally will be organised to mark 50 days since they were abducted, which is on Sunday, and organisers expect 50,000 people from across the country to attend.

Muhannad Tutunji
BBC News Arabic

We’ve heard more about the shock that hostages felt when they were handed over yesterday by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza.

“It was overwhelming for them,” ICRC’s spokeswoman in Jerusalem, Sarah Davies, told BBC Arabic.

She says we don’t know if the hostages had been told about the deal, and that the first they knew about their freedom may have been when they saw the Red Cross cars.

“I did speak to some colleagues who said they saw the relief of hostages,” she said.

“Some of them were in a bit of shock. It took a while for it to sink in what was really happening, and it was just a very emotional situation for them.”

The temporary truce has also given the ICRC more time and space to help civilians inside Gaza.

“Our colleagues have reported that the silence is the first they have heard since 7 October when the conflict really began in earnest,” they told us.

“Explosions are no longer something that you can hear constantly. The sky has cleared of smoke. People have been able to safely to go the beach and wash in the ocean.”

The Israeli PM's office has published the first photos of the release of the Israeli hostages yesterday, taken at the border crossing and hospitals where they were taken for medical assessments.

Image source, IDF

Image source, IDF

Image source, IDF

Image source, IDF

Image source, IDF

Tom Bateman
Reporting from Jerusalem

A Qatari delegation is in Israel discussing a possible extension to the ongoing truce agreement, a diplomatic source has confirmed to the BBC.

The current temporary ceasefire deal, mediated by Qatar, began yesterday and is due to last 4 days. It is meant to see Hamas release 50 hostages in return for 150 Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel.

We’ve previously reported how the agreement includes an “option to extend” for a further 5 days, with more releases.

The diplomatic source said there was momentum to build on the current 4 day period.

The team from Qatar includes an operations team which is coordinating with the parties on the ground, as well as officials discussing the possibility of extending the deal beyond 4 days, according to the source.

They also believe today’s exchange of prisoners and hostages will go ahead, despite the apparent delay.

There has been some discrepancy in briefings about the number of Israeli hostages to be released today, with some Israeli officials earlier saying 14, and now 13.

The Israeli Prison Service released a statement this morning saying 42 prisoners would be released, while an Israeli military spokesman has just said Hamas will release 13 Israeli hostages today in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Egyptian security sources said earlier they had received a list from Hamas of 14 hostages to be released on Saturday.

As a reminder, under the four-day ceasefire 50 hostages are due to be released in four batches at the ratio of three to one, in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Sarah Al-Suwaisa was one of the 39 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in the first exchange for hostages on Friday.

Speaking after her release, she said she felt "humiliated" by her time in jail, and that pepper spray was used against detainees.

She alleged they were locked in dark rooms, saying "they suffered from the cold". "Only Hamas felt our sufferings," she added.

Clarification: The video above, first posted on Saturday at 14:48 GMT, originally carried inaccurate subtitles due to an error in the editing process. It has now been updated to a longer version.

Egypt says it has received "positive signals from all parties" that the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could be extended "for one or two days".

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said officials were holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement over extending the four-day truce.

They added that this would mean "releasing more hostages from Gaza and more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails".

"Egypt has received positive signals from all parties," Rashwan said.

Image source, epa

Hostage release: 24 people were released by Hamas on the first day of the temporary ceasefire and Israeli authorities say 14 more will be released today

Palestinian prisoners: 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons on Friday and it is understood another 42 will be released today

Aid to Gaza: The biggest humanitarian convoy since the start of the war carrying fuel, food and medical supplies entered Gaza on Friday - the IDF says 200 trucks are expected today

Hamas: The group will use some of this time to re-establish chains of command, restock supplies, and relocate fighters, according to Professor of Security Studies Peter R. Neuman

IDF: Israel is gearing up for the next phase of its campaign, and with no agreement on how to deal with civilians, Gaza's long agony looks set to continue, writes the BBC's Paul Adams

A doctor who is helping treat the freed hostages and their relatives says it will be a long recovery process.

Hagai Levine, who heads up the medical team for the campaign group Hostages and Missing Families Forum, external, says: "We don’t know exactly what are the medical and mental problems, despite the excitement and joy, we will have to follow up and see what they need."

But he says the released hostages were in better shape than his team's worst expectations.

"The kids have an amazing ability to recover and some of them have been with family members, with mothers, so that also eases the situation."

Palestinian prisoner release a 'window of hope' in West Bankpublished at 13:28 Greenwich Mean Time 25 November 2023

13:28 GMT 25 November 2023

Lucy Williamson
Reporting from the West Bank

Image source, Reuters

The return of 39 Palestinians from Israeli prisons to their homes in the occupied West Bank was never just going to be a family affair.

To the Palestinians gathered to greet them, they are victims of Israel's occupation - and their release is symbolic of a wider goal.

To Israel, the prisoners it released are a security threat. Charges range from murder and violent attacks on Israelis to stone-throwing.

The release of detainees marks a "window of hope" for both Palestinians and Israelis, according to human rights lawyer Mohammed Khatib.

"The end [goal] is that they must accept us as people, they must accept our right to exist," he says.

"We are humans: we have names, families, lives. I see all of this in the eye of a child released from prison today."

The return of prisoners here has been paved by a brutal attack, a devastating war and a hostage crisis.

"There's a joy in this release but it is incomplete joy," Abdallah Zughary tells me, "because there's a big price Palestinians have paid over past 45 days."

• Read the full story here

There was joy and relief as Israeli hostages freed by Hamas were reunited with their families.

Nine-year-old Ohad Munder, who had been held hostage for 48 days, ran down the hallway of Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva to his father.

The video released by the hospital also show his mother Keren and grandmother Ruthi reunited with their family.

Jiraporn Sricham
BBC Thai

The relative of one of the 10 Thai hostages released by Hamas told the BBC that her family was overjoyed.

Urai Chantachart, the older sister of Boonthom Pankhong said: "Our family has been suffering for over a month, but we never thought he was dead. We strongly believe that he is still alive until today, our belief has come true.

“I thought that his physical condition would be weaker, but he looked better than expected. He seemed to have lost weight,” she added, while looking at photos released by the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Boonthom was released along with his girlfriend Natthawaree Mulakan. Both of them are now receiving treatment at Shamir Medical Center in Israel.

Urai said her brother was the main breadwinner of her family. He has been working in Israel for five years and was sending money back home.

Boonthom's family also reached out to Natthawaree's family and they shared equal joy in this positive news.

Image source, Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty Images

There were celebrations on Friday in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to greet the first group of 39 Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel.

The group of 24 women and 15 teenage boys was released across the Beitunia checkpoint in the West Bank.

They are accused of a range of offences, from throwing stones to attempted murder. Some were convicted while others were awaiting trial.

Sari Bashi, the programme director for Human Rights Watch, told the BBC many Palestinian prisoners are held without charge, under a system known as administrative detention.

"They're being held based on secret evidence that the Israeli authorities say they have which says that they are dangerous.

"Human Rights Watch has particular concerns about the sweeping use of administrative detention...For others who have been either charged or convicted of crimes we have serious concerns about the Israeli military justice system that applies in the West Bank to Palestinians but not to Israelis."

Read more on the prisoner releases here.

Yolande Knell
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Lorries lined up from early morning once again to take aid into Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

For the second consecutive day, Israel has allowed four tankers of diesel to enter and four truckloads of cooking gas.

Yesterday, the UN says, it processed the largest volume of aid on any day since the first convoy arrived in on 21st October.

All kinds of relief is urgently needed, says UNRWA spokesperson, Juliette Touma.

“Basic medical supplies, food, medicines, drinking water. Some cleaning materials and hygiene kits.

“That’s very, very important, as basic as it sounds.”

Many public shelters are now extremely overcrowded in Gaza. UNRWA says its schools and other facilities are housing a million displaced people.

In Gaza, people have described having to flee with only the clothes on their backs.

Most are unable to wash properly. Since the start of the temporary truce, we have seen desperate scenes of Palestinians returning to their destroyed homes to try to retrieve any possessions they can from the rubble.

Image source, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum

The daughter of Haim Peri, a 79-year-old who was kidnapped from his home on 7 October, says she has received a "sign of life" this morning.

Speaking on a broadcast facilitated by The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, , externalNoam Peri said she found out her father was still alive from hostages who were released yesterday.

Peri said the news brought a "lot of hope" but raised worries about how much longer the hostages could "hold on".

She added that her father was not a healthy man as he was recovering from a heart attack and depended on medication.

"We assume he is kept underground and the conditions there are very hard... it's hard to breathe there and we don't even know if he can stand in the place where he is kept."

Image source, Hostages and Missing families forum

A campaign group that speaks on behalf of the families of those taken hostage by Hamas has released a photo of the Thai and Filipino nationals who were released by Hamas on Friday.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, external has listed their names as:

Gelienor "Jimmy" Pacheco, Natthawaree Mulakan, Santi Bunphrom, Boonthom Pankhong, Mongkol Phajuabbun, Withun Phumi, Vichai Kalapat, Bancha Kongmani, Buddi Sengbun, Uthai Thunsri and Uthai Sengnual.

The organisation said it was in continuous contact with foreign embassies and will continue to coordinate with them until all the hostages are safely returned.