"But I stress to you, the families, and to you, citizens of Israel: We are committed to bringing back all our hostages."
As well as the Israeli hostages, 10 Thais and one Filipino, who were taken captive at the same time, were also freed under a separate agreement, Qatari mediators said.
The military said the released hostages had undergone initial medical checks inside Israel and would be taken to hospitals where they would be reunited with their families.
The rest of a group of at least 50 Israeli hostages due to be exchanged under a Qatari-brokered agreement are expected to be freed in the coming days and more hostages could be added if the truce deal is extended.
The military campaign has killed around 14,000 Palestinians, according to medical authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.
Persons:
Benjamin Netanyahu, Corinne Moshe, Adina Moshe, Al Qahera, Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel's Kan, Erez, Shelly Shem Tov, Omer Shem Tov, Omer, Ari Rabinovitch, Henriette Chacar, Andrew Heavens, Hugh Lawson
Organizations:
Qatari, Reuters, Israel's, Thomson
Locations:
Gaza, Israel, Egypt