Israel-Gaza updates: 17 more hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl, officials say
Fourteen Israeli and three foreign hostages were released Sunday, the IDF said.
Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
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What we know about the conflict
The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
13 more hostages expected to be released Sunday: Egyptian officials
Egypt's State Information Service said another 13 hostages will be freed by the Hamas terror group Sunday after 51 days in captivity in Gaza.
Israel is expected to free 39 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails on Sunday as part of the negotiated agreement, Egyptian officials said.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
33 Palestinian detainees released to West Bank: ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it facilitated the release on Saturday of 33 Palestinian detainees from Israel to the West Bank.
A bus carrying the detainees arrived in Al Bireh in the West Bank early Sunday, The Associated Press reported.
More aid delivered to Gaza on 2nd day of pause: UN
On the second day of the humanitarian pause, 61 trucks of aid were delivered to northern Gaza on Saturday, the largest number since Oct. 7, according to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The aid included food, water and emergency medical supplies, as well as 11 ambulances delivered to Al Shifa Hospital to help with evacuations, OCHA said.
Additionally, nearly 200 trucks and 129,000 liters of fuel crossed into Gaza on Saturday, it said.
"The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send in and across Gaza," OCHA said in a statement.
Hostages heading to hospitals to reunite with families: IDF
The hostages released on Saturday are en route to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families, the Israel Defense Forces said.
"The released hostages underwent an initial medical assessment, one civilian was transferred to a hospital an hour ago, and others are currently on their way to hospitals where they will reunite with their families," the IDF said in its latest statement.
"The IDF, Israeli security forces, and healthcare are ready to continue receiving additional hostages according to the agreement, alongside the IDF preparation to continue operating in the Gaza Strip," the statement continued.
Biden says release of hostages 'just the beginning'
President Joe Biden said Friday that the release of 24 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is "just the beginning" of a plan to free 50 of the more than 230 captives over four days.
“It's only a start, but so far it's gone well,” Biden said in a televised address from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he and first lady Jill Biden are vacationing.
He said Friday's hostage release is part of a deal "reached by extensive U.S. diplomacy, including numerous calls I've made from the Oval Office to leaders across the region," including calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the emir of Qatar.
“All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,” Biden said. “Today has been a product of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal engagement.”
Biden said that under the deal, more hostages would be released over the next three days with 50 being "our goal." But he added, "We also will not stop until we get these hostages brought home and an answer to their whereabouts.”
The president said U.S. officials do not know when Americans -- including two women and 4-year-old Abigail Edan, whose parents were killed by Hamas terrorists -- will be among those that are released or their conditions. He added, “We expect it to occur” and that it’s his “hope and expectation” that it “will be soon.”
Biden said the four-day cease-fire that was negotiated for the release of the hostages will allow time to "accelerate and expand humanitarian assistance going into Gaza."
Speaking of the children freed on Friday, one just 2 years old, Biden said, “The teddy bears waiting to greet those children at the hospital are a stark reminder of the trauma these children have been through at such a very young age.”
-ABC News' Justin Gomez