Rocky hostage release underscores fragility of deal between Israel and Hamas

A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, arrives at the Rafah border, on November 25, 2023.

Excitement has been replaced by tension in Israel, after a brief delay before the release of several Israeli hostages on Saturday underscored the tenuousness of the nation’s deal with Hamas, which still holds around 200 captives in Gaza.

Many demonstrators appeared close to tears at a rally for the families of hostages in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, even as a diplomatic scramble was taking place to restart the release process.

“This is

...pause in fighting might give Hamas.“We have a big struggle ahead of us,” said Nadav Rudaeff, whose 61-year-old father is being held in Gaza, told a press conference. “The fight still isn’t over.”CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Joseph Ataman, Clarissa Ward, Kocha Olar, Manveena Suri,Eve Brennan andLauren Izso contributed to this report.