Killing Reported in Gaza Refugee Camp on Third Day of Truce

A Palestinian farmer was killed and another injured on Sunday after they were targeted by Israeli forces in the Maghazi refugee camp in the center of Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said as a truce between Israel and Hamas fighters entered a third day.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the report and it was not clear if it would impact the latest phase of plans to swap 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant group for 150 prisoners in Israeli jails over a four-day period.
Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals arrived in Israel early on Sunday after a second release of hostages held by Hamas following an initial delay caused by a dispute about aid delivery into Gaza.
Although the issue was resolved through mediation by Egypt and Qatar, it underscored the fragility of the truce, the first halt in fighting since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
In response to that attack, Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas militants who run Gaza, bombarding the enclave and mounting a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 people, roughly 40% of them children, have been killed, Palestinian health authorities said on Saturday.
Israel had said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continued to release at least 10 hostages a day. A Palestinian source had said up to 100 hostages could go free.
The armed wing of Hamas announced on Sunday the killing of four of its military commanders in the Gaza Strip, including the commander of the North Gaza brigade Ahmad Al Ghandour. However, it was not clear when they had been killed.
FREED HOSTAGES
Television images showed freed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza as Hamas handed the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday.
Six of the 13 Israelis released were women and seven were teenagers or children. The youngest was three-year-old Yahel Shoham, freed with her mother and brother, although her father remains a hostage.
"The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will re-unite with their families," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Israel released 39 Palestinians - six women and 33 minors - from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Some of the Palestinians arrived at Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of citizens awaited them, a Reuters journalist said.
Violence flared in the West Bank where Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including two minors and at least one gunman, late on Saturday and early Sunday, medics and local sources said.
Even before the Oct. 7 attacks from Gaza, the West Bank had been in a state of unrest, with a rise in Israeli army raids, Palestinian attacks, and violence by Israeli settlers in the past 18 months. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, some in Israeli air strikes.
Saturday's swap follows the previous day's initial release of 13 Israeli hostages, including children and the elderly, by Hamas in return for the release of 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli prisons.
On Friday Hamas also released a Philippine national and 10 Thai farm workers.
The four Thais freed on Saturday "want a shower and to contact their relatives", Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on social media platform X. All were safe and showed few ill-effects, he said.
"I’m so happy, I’m so glad, I can’t describe my feeling at all," Thongkoon Onkaew told Reuters by telephone after news of the release of her son Natthaporn, 26, the family's sole breadwinner.
AID DISPUTE
The deal risked being derailed when Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday it was delaying releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.
Saving the deal took a day of high-stakes diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, which US President Joe Biden also joined.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Friday had reached northern Gaza, or "less than half of what Israel agreed on".
Al-Qassam Brigades also said Israel had failed to respect terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners that factored in their time in detention.
The Israeli military said the United Nations and international organizations distribute aid within the Gaza Strip. The UN said 61 trucks delivered aid to northern Gaza on Saturday, the most since the war began seven weeks ago. They included food, water and emergency medical supplies.
'HEART IS SPLIT'
Saturday also brought hours of waiting for the families of hostages, some of whose joy was tempered by the continued captivity of others.
"My heart is split because my son, Itay, is still in Hamas' captivity in Gaza," Mirit Regev, the mother of Maya Regev, who was released late on Saturday, said in a statement from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Also released was Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand, initially feared killed, who spent her ninth birthday in captivity before being freed along with 12-year-old Hila Rotem, whose mother remains in captivity.
"We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return," Hand's family said in a statement.

Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain sparked controversy when he revealed that 50,000 Pakistanis have gone missing in Iraq over the years.

He urged the Baghdad government to immediately launch a probe into how the Pakistanis entered Iraq to visit religious sites during the month of Muharram, he was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Ummat newspaper.

Islamabad is investigating how people have traveled outside Pakistan through illegal means, he remarked.

The permanent committee for religious affairs and interfaith harmony has since proposed new policies for trips to holy sites in foreign countries, including Iraq.

In Iraq, the minister’s comments drew mockery and condemnation on social media and sparked renewed debate over illegal workers in the country.

Politician Mishaan al-Juburi urged the government to make a statement over Hussain’s comments, warning that they may impact security and the labor force.

Hussain’s comments coincided with Iraqi police announcing the arrest of six Pakistanis in Baghdad on charges of theft.

Previously, military intelligence also announced the arrest of a nine-member Pakistani kidnapping and extortion gang in Baghdad. The gang had kidnapped foreigners for ransom.

Meanwhile, Labor Minister Ahmed al-Asadi expressed his concern and condemnation over the increasing number of illegal workers in Iraq.

He said his ministry will investigate the disappearance of the Pakistanis.

He confirmed that several tourists, including Pakistanis, have flocked to Iraq in recent days, and many have taken up employment without the necessary legal permits.

He warned that this phenomenon is negatively impacting the national economy.

The ministry will not be lenient in taking the necessary legal measures against the violators, he vowed.

Iraq welcomes all tourists, whether they are here on a religious visit or otherwise, but they must respect local laws and regulations, declared Asadi.

Every year, millions of Shiites flock to religious sites in Iraq’s Najaf and Karbala.

Killing Reported in Gaza Refugee Camp on Third Day of Truce