CAIRO (Reuters) – Hamas’ military wing announced on Monday that it had released two female hostages for humanitarian reasons as part of joint mediation led by Qatar and Egypt, information confirmed by the International Committee of the Cross -Rouge (ICRC) who said he transported them out of Gaza.
A source told Reuters that the two freed hostages were two elderly Israelis.
The official Egyptian press agency reported that the two ex-hostages had arrived at the Rafah crossing point in Egypt, the only border axis with the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel.
Israeli Channel 12 television reported that the families of the two women had been notified.
This announcement comes after Hamas released two women with dual Israeli-American nationality on Friday, citing “humanitarian reasons”.
These were the first two hostages officially released by Hamas since its October 7 attack during which its fighters killed 1,400 people and kidnapped dozens of others, including many dual nationals who also had American or European passports.
The ICRC said Monday it had facilitated the release of two additional Hamas hostages, “transporting them out of Gaza this evening.”
He added that his role “as a neutral intermediary” made these efforts possible. “We are prepared to facilitate any further releases,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, the spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, Abou Oubaida, announced via Telegram messaging that two hostages were released “for humanitarian and health reasons.”
(Reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Omar Abdel-Razek in Cairo; French version Jean Terzian)
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