Eleven Israeli hostages, nine children and two women, were freed by Hamas late Monday and taken to a hospital in Tel Aviv to reunite with their relatives.

The fourth batch of hostages was made up of dual nationals of France, Germany and Argentina, according to Qatar.

The Israel Defense Forces named the 11 released on Monday as Eitan Yahalomi, Sharon Kunio, three-year-old twins Emma and Yuly Kunio, Karina Engel, Mika Engel, Yuval Engel, Sahar Kalderon, Erez Kalderon, Or Yaakov and Yagil Yaakov.

According to Haaretz, Diego Engel-Bert, the brother of Karina Engel-Bert and uncle of Mika Engel, 17, and Yuval Engel, 11 told Channel 12 News:

"We are all here glued to the screen and full of happiness and longing. It’s good to have a chest to stop the heart from escaping. We’re starting to see a little light in the darkness we are in, waiting for them to come so we can hug. Just hug, no need to talk, everything else will come later."

In total Hamas has released 69 of the about 240 hostages it seized on 7 October.

/The Guardian