Qatar, one of the mediating countries in the Hamas hostage crisis, believes the release of the hostages is possible soon thanks to ongoing discussions. Friday evening, two American women were released after 13 days spent in the Gaza Strip, where they were held by the Palestinian terrorist movement.
Qatar, one of the countries mediating the Hamas hostage crisis, believes a release of the hostages “very soon” is possible thanks to ongoing discussions, the spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in an interview on Saturday in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
“I cannot promise you that this will happen today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. But we are on a path which will very soon lead to the release of the hostages, in particular the civilians,” Majed Al-Ansari told the day after the release of two Americans, kidnapped on October 7. Mediation by Qatar led to the release of two American women on Friday evening, Doha having explained that it was discussing it with the Israelis and Hamas.
“Efforts must be continued”
“We are currently working on an agreement whereby all civilian hostages will be released first,” Majed Al-Ansari added in this interview. The release of the two American nationals “reassures us, as well as our partners, in the idea that the efforts undertaken in recent days are effective and must be continued”, he said again.
The two women were kidnapped by Hamas during its bloody assault on Israel, while visiting the kibbutz (collectivist farming village) Nahal Oz. This is the first hostage release confirmed by both parties. Some 200 Israeli, foreign and binational hostages were kidnapped in Israel and taken to Gaza by Hamas during the unprecedented attack on October 7, which sparked a war, with Israel shelling from the Gaza Strip to “annihilate” the Islamist movement.