and the number of prisoners freed to 117. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. among the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october seven attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in helping the release. they also said today s release proves that we can get all the hostages back home. the israel defense forces spokesman daniel hagari said the release of four year old abigail was proof this is a justified war, fighting a
truce with hamas, whilst 39 palestinian women and children were released from israeli prisons as a part of the hostage deal between israel and hamas. today s releases brings the total number of hostages released during the window to sa and the number of prisoners freed to 117. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. among the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the hamas attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october 7th attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come, and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in
politicsnation. tonight s lead, more hostages released. right now, right now, after nearly two months of hostilities, israel and hamas are in the second day of a cease-fire, and with that, a series of prisoner exchanges that has included women, children, and the elderly at this hour, after long and dramatic day that saw a few delays and a personal intervention by president jill joe biden, 13 additional israeli hostages have been released by hamas. eight children and five women, along with four foreign thailand nationals. israel, saying that the red cross has confirmed the release. they are on their way to the rafah crossing in gaza. meanwhile, 39 palestinian prisoners have been released by israel. have promised to continue tomorrow with the third round. but in the interim, the white house is trying to figure out how to push this truce forward into a lasting peace, and how to get as much humanitarian aid into gaza as possible. democratic senator, chemo smith, joins me