Rounding the corner of a hospital corridor, nine-year-old Ohad breaks into a run, hurling himself into the arms of his father after being held by militants in Gaza for nearly seven weeks.

The reunion took place at a hospital near Tel Aviv after the boy, his mother and his grandmother were freed along with 10 others on the first day of a four-day truce and hostage swap deal with Hamas that also saw dozens of Palestinian prisoners freed.

The UAE's Sultan Al Jaber, the president of the forthcoming UN climate conference in Dubai, is "cautiously optimistic" that the pivotal talks will be successful, he told AFP in an interview on Saturday.

Jaber, CEO of Emirati oil giant ADNOC, said he would hold "everyone" accountable for keeping within reach the target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting the rise in the Earth's average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

QUESTION: COP28 is due to start in Dubai in five days' time. How far are we from reaching a consensus?

Hamas on Saturday released a second group of Israeli and foreign civilians it had been holding hostage in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, after an hours-long unexpected delay set nerves on edge.

Israeli authorities said 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens had returned to Israel.

The joint announcement by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security service came after the prime minister's office said in a statement that the government "embraces the 17 hostages that are returning home, 13 of our citizens and 4 Thai citizens".

Kittiya Thuengsaeng thought her 28-year-old boyfriend was among the almost 40 Thais killed in Hamas's deadly assault on Israel last month.

But on Friday night Thai officials shocked her with news so good it seemed impossible.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," she told AFP, describing the moment she saw a photograph of Wichai Kalapat after he was released from weeks in captivity.

"I had a chat with him in the morning. He was still smiling. He told me he was safe."

An Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected drone attack by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean, a US defence official said on Saturday.

"We are aware of reports that there was a suspected IRGC-initiated Shahed-136 UAV (that) struck a civilian motor vessel in the Indian Ocean," the official said, confirming the attack on Friday and adding that "the ship incurred minor damage" and there were "no injuries".

Hamas fighters are set to release a new wave of hostages Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, officials said, offering hope to anguished families after seven weeks of war that have killed thousands of people.

Key mediator Qatar was expected to announce the numbers of prisoners and hostages to be freed later Saturday, the second swap since a four-day ceasefire came into effect on Friday and largely silenced the guns on both sides.

Israeli authorities said they had received a list of the hostages to be freed but did not provide numbers or the precise timing.

Firecrackers lit up the night sky Friday as raucous celebrations -- mixed with defiance -- marked the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons in exchange for the first wave of hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza.

Crowds across the West Bank cheered and waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, along with kaffiyeh scarves after two white coaches -- escorted by armoured vehicles -- exited the Ofer military camp with the prisoners.

The Israeli foreign ministry on Friday summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium for a "harsh rebuke" over comments by the two countries' leaders about the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Spain's foreign ministry swiftly riposted by calling in the Israeli ambassador to explain her government's "false and unacceptable" allegations against the Spanish prime minister.

A Palestinian NGO said Friday that 39 prisoners had been released by Israeli authorities under a truce agreement to pause the fighting in Gaza, after 13 hostages from Israel had been handed over.

A total of 28 prisoners were released in the occupied West Bank, an AFP correspondent saw, while the other 11 were brought to annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group.

Two white coaches, escorted by armoured vehicles, were seen leaving the Ofer military camp in the early evening.

How will the first group of hostages released by Hamas on Friday recover from the psychological trauma of being held captive since the Palestinian militant group's attack on Israel on October 7?

It is a difficult question to answer, experts say, because the capacity to recover from being held hostage varies enormously and unpredictably from one person to another.