First 13 hostages freed under truce deal handed to Israeli forces

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00:00 What we know is that apparently the Thai workers,

00:03 the Thai hostages are coming out of Gaza.

00:07 We saw their convoy of vehicles heading towards Egypt,

00:12 sorry, in Egypt, heading towards Israel.

00:16 And we have heard from the Egyptians

00:19 that they now have responsibility, as they put it,

00:23 for all the hostages.

00:24 They say they've examined the Israeli children

00:29 and they seem to be not in poor condition,

00:32 I think was how they put it,

00:34 good enough to hand over to the Israelis without fear.

00:38 And now they're making that progress

00:43 from the Egyptian side to the Israeli side,

00:46 to Israeli control, to Israeli custody, I should say.

00:50 - And Iris, do we know how many children

00:53 are part of that deal, how many women are part of that deal?

00:56 Because what we do know is 13

00:58 and that's all we know for now.

01:01 - That's all we know.

01:02 I have heard someone here saying

01:05 that the name of the kibbutz that they're from,

01:07 and it appears it's a grandmother, a mother, and a child,

01:10 but I don't wanna say that until it's confirmed.

01:14 It is a bit strange, isn't it?

01:16 They must know the names on the list.

01:18 By the way, Egypt put out a statement saying

01:21 these were the names that were on the list from yesterday too.

01:24 I don't quite understand that

01:26 because Israel didn't have a list, but maybe Egypt did.

01:29 And they say it's the same names

01:31 and they say that those people are confirmed.

01:35 So we know that 12 Thai hostages went out first.

01:39 We know the women and children are being looked at now,

01:44 and then the process of transporting to Israel will begin.

01:49 - I think while you were speaking, Iris,

01:51 we actually saw what appears to be those Thai hostages

01:54 getting off a bus.

01:56 Iris, clearly what the choreography,

01:58 which we're seeing today, is markedly different

02:01 than the one where we saw in the first few weeks of the war

02:04 when we had those two elderly women

02:06 who were released from Hamas's possession.

02:11 And it seems that Israeli officials

02:15 really want to keep the media at bay,

02:18 which is why you are where you are right now.

02:20 - That's right.

02:23 That is right.

02:24 You know, there are hundreds of people who've gone to,

02:28 hundreds of Israelis who are not related to this story

02:31 who have gone to the square where the hostages are

02:34 because it's so moving for them and so important for them.

02:38 And I think the Israeli fear is that people

02:41 who've been under the ground for 49 days,

02:43 and we don't know what conditions they were in,

02:46 and even if their conditions were good,

02:48 it's nevertheless very stressful.

02:51 The amount of love pouring out to them

02:54 from the Israeli public may actually be too much

02:56 for them to handle.

02:57 So they really want to look after their mental health

02:59 as well as their physical health.

03:01 Even the area in the hospital they're being taken to

03:04 will be free of the general public and free of the media.

03:09 So that's why I'm here to see

03:12 what they will let us see, if you like.

03:15 The first images as they come out,

03:18 I can also see the buses that you're seeing behind me

03:22 on the screens.

03:24 So yes, it is a difference of,

03:29 I think they just feel they have to care for them more.

03:31 I've been hearing psychologists talking this afternoon

03:35 and saying, it's very hard to know how to treat children

03:39 in this circumstance.

03:40 We don't know very much about children

03:41 who are being held hostage.

03:42 - Indeed, I too spoke to an expert who said

03:44 we are really in uncharted territory here.

03:47 Iris, thank you very much for that.

03:48 Iris Mackler reporting there for us from Tel Aviv.

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