After nervous drama with Hamas
Israeli hostages on the way to freedom
November 25, 2023, 10:18 p.m
After an hour-long war of nerves, the radical Islamic Hamas hands over a second group of hostages to the Red Cross. Israel’s military confirms that 13 Israeli and four foreign hostages have crossed the border into Egypt.
The Islamist Hamas has handed over a group of hostages in the Gaza Strip to employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Both the terrorist organization and the Israeli military announced this in the evening. According to Hamas, 13 Israelis and seven foreign nationals were handed over; Israel’s military speaks of 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens. Confirmation from the Red Cross is still pending. According to a spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, only four foreign nationals were handed over.
Just a few hours before the hostages were released, Hamas surprisingly stopped a handover at the last minute. The reason given by the terrorist organization was that, in its view, Israel had violated part of the hostage deal. After Qatar intervened, Hamas gave in late in the evening.
In return, 39 Palestinian prisoners were to be released from Israeli prisons in the evening. According to Hamas, among them are six women and 33 male youths under the age of 19.