Mother and children supposedly free
Erdogan is negotiating with Hamas for hostages
October 12, 2023, 12:24 a.m
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In their terrorist attack, Hamas terrorists murder hundreds of Israelis and kidnap around 150 others into the Gaza Strip. Turkish President Erdogan steps in as a mediator.
According to government sources, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun negotiations with Hamas about the release of hostages from Israel. “They are negotiating to secure the release of hostages,” a government source told AFP, confirming reports from Turkish private television channel Habertürk.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Hamas has announced an Israeli hostage and her two children. “An Israeli settler and her two children were released after being arrested during the clashes,” said the Essedin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing. A video subsequently broadcast on the Palestinian television channel Al-Aqsa showed a woman walking away from a barbed wire fenced area during the day with two children and three armed Hamas fighters. According to the information, these are hostages from Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza Strip, which was attacked on Saturday. The release is therefore related to the mediation efforts of Türkiye and Egypt.
Release not confirmed
However, the exact place and time when the alleged release was recorded as well as the identity of the woman and her children are unclear. When contacted by the AFP news agency, the Israeli military was initially unable to confirm the report of the hostages’ release.
Hamas, which rules in Gaza, kidnapped around 150 hostages into the Gaza Strip in its major attack on Israel that began on Saturday morning. It fired thousands of rockets on Saturday and invaded Israel with hundreds of fighters, killing more than 1,000 people, the majority of them civilians. The Israeli army responded with air strikes on the Gaza Strip and fought on the ground with the invading Hamas fighters.
The hostages include citizens of numerous countries. According to information from the Foreign Office in Berlin, several people with dual Israeli and German citizenship were abducted.