17 hostages released by Hamas as video of 9-year-old Israeli boy reuniting with his father goes viral

A group of 17 hostages were released from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Hamas released 17 hostages – 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals. No Americans were released.

The release of the hostages came after an hours-long delay, where Hamas accused Israel of violating the terms of the four-day truce deal. However, both sides were able to "overcome" the standoff thanks to mediation, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson.

The hostages were transferred to Israel, and then taken to hospitals for observation.

Included in the Israeli hostages were six women and seven children – the youngest was 3 years old. However, Hamas detained the mother of a 12-year-old girl who was released.

Of the children released was 9-year-old Emily Hand. It was an unbelievable reunion for Hand's family, who initially believed the young girl was murdered during the Oct. 7 onslaught by Hamas terrorists that killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and ignited the Israel-Hamas war.

Emily's father, Thomas Hand, was originally informed that his daughter was one of the fatalities from the initial attack. However, authorities never recovered her body and didn't find any blood in the home where she was staying.

Emily turned 9 years old while being a Hamas hostage for 50 days.

The Associated Press reported, "Most of the released hostages were from Kibbutz Be’eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 cross-border attack, a spokesperson for the kibbutz said."

There are approximately 195 Israelis being held captive by captive, according to the Times of Israel.

As part of the deal, Israel was to release 39 Palestinian hostages on the second day of the truce, according to Al Jazeera.

Saturday's hostage swap was the second round of detainee releases in as many days during the cease-fire.

On Friday, Israel released 39 Palestinians and Hamas released 24 hostages.

Included in the Israeli hostages released on Friday was 9-year-old Ohad Munder.

On Saturday, the Schneider Children's Medical Center shared a video of the heartwarming reunion of the young boy and his family.

The touching footage shows Munder sprinting down a hospital hallway to a warm embrace by his father, who picks him up in sheer joy.

The boy turned 9 years old while in the captivity of Hamas.

Munder's mother, 54, and grandmother, 78, were also released in the first round of prisoner swaps, according to Reuters.

The feel-good video went viral with more than 350,000 views in less than 24 hours.

The Qatari government said it hopes the temporary truce can be extended past four days.

Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told CNN on Saturday, "What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases of these two days and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages."

Al-Ansari was not sure if American hostages detained by Hamas would be let go in future detainee releases.

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