Hamas on Sunday handed over another 13 Israeli hostages to the Red Cross along with three Thai nationals.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also confirmed that 14 Israeli captives — one accounting to a Russian citizen who holds dual nationality — have been received by the Red Cross.

The group said that it had released a hostage who held Russian citizenship from Gaza, adding that it had taken the action in appreciation of Moscow’s position.

Earlier, Israel released another 39 Palestinians in exchange for 13 Israelis held hostage on Saturday, as the deal reached for ceasefire in a siege of Gaza continued to progress.

With the latest prisoner release, the number of Palestinians released by Israel has reached 78.

Celebrations and emotional scens were witnessed as the prisoners reached their homes, some after spending many years in prison.

Still, over 8,000 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli prisons including women and children. Of this number, 2,200 people are held in administrative detention without charges.

In return for the Palestinians released, Hamas released 13 Israeli hostages including six women and seven children. The total number of hostages released on Friday and Saturday has now reached 26.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt and Qatar, is meant to release 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant groups and 150 prisoners held in Israeli jails over four days.

How to prioritise releases

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.

Ensuring that the deal did not collapse took a day of high-stakes diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, a process U.S. President Joe Biden joined, calling Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Friday had reached northern Gaza, which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, also said Israel had failed to respect terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners that factored in their time in detention.

The IDF said the United Nations and international organisations distribute aid inside the Gaza Strip. The U.N. 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.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said there had been “a lot of discussion” on how and whom to prioritise for release and that a key criterion for the Palestinian side was the length of time spent in Israeli prisons.

“We are now hopeful that, with the second or the third day of this pause, we would be able to hash out a lot of these details that made this day so difficult,” he told CNN.

Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continued to release at least 10 hostages a day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.

‘Heart is Split’

Saturday also brought hours of nail-biting 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, one of those released late on Saturday, said in a statement from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum that represents the families.

Also released was nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand, who was initially thought to have been killed. She spent her ninth birthday in captivity and was released alongside 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.

Palestinians’ joy at the release of prisoners from Israeli jails was tinged with bitterness.

“I feel like I am in a dream, but I hope that the war on Gaza will stop as soon as possible,” one of them, Shorouk Dwayyat, who had served half her term of 16 years, told Al Jazeera TV from her home, saying her joy was mixed with pain.