The majority are still in Gaza
These hostages are free again
November 29, 2023, 8:39 p.m
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Over the past five days, dozens of hostages have been released from the clutches of Hamas. There are also several Germans among them. Most of the abductees are still in Gaza. An overview.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on Friday, Hamas has handed over a group of hostages to the Red Cross every day, almost all of them women and children as well as foreign workers. The Islamists abducted around 240 people after the massacres on October 7th, and so far 84 have been released as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas. The soldier Ori Megidish was freed by the Israeli army at the end of October. Israel believes there are still 151 hostages in Gaza.
Most recently, the terrorist group released ten Israeli women and two Thais on Tuesday. That comes from one Name list from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. One of them, Meirav Tal, has both Israeli and German citizenship. Her two sons were released the day before, her husband is still in the Gaza Strip.
As part of this fifth hostage handover, 17-year-old Mia Leimberg from Jerusalem, her mother Gabriela Leimberg and her sister Clara Merman were able to return home. The three women were visiting Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas attacked the place. Merman’s partner and her brother are still being held hostage. At 84, Ditza Heiman is the oldest of those released on Tuesday.
Two German teenagers free
Eleven Israelis were released on Monday, including nine children and two women. Among them are the German-Israeli brothers Or (16) and Yagil (12) Yaakov, the sons of Meirav Tal. Sharon Cunio and her three-year-old twin daughters are also free. Her husband Ronen is still held hostage. Twelve-year-old Eitan Yahalomi has also been free since Monday.
On Sunday, the third day of the ceasefire, Hamas released 17 hostages. As a result, four-year-old American Avigail Idan was released. The terrorists kidnapped the child from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and murdered her parents. Oriya Brodetz is also four years old and was able to leave the Gaza Strip with her two siblings and her mother. Ron Krivoy, 25, who was abducted at the music festival attacked, is an Israeli and Russian citizen. According to Hamas, he was released at the “efforts of President Vladimir Putin.” Both Hamas and Russia are allied with Iran and fight their wars with Iranian help.
On Saturday, 13 Israeli women and children were released. This group includes Adi Shojam and her children Naveh (8) and Yahel (3); they are German-Israelis. In addition, nine-year-old Emily Hand was able to return to her father, who had initially assumed that his daughter had been killed by Hamas.
For the first time on Friday, hostages were handed over to the Red Cross and driven out via the Rafah border crossing. There were 24 people: ten Thais, one Filipino and 13 Israelis. Among them were Doron Katz Asher and her children, four-year-old Raz and two-year-old Aviv – they also have German citizenship. The 77-year-old Margalit Berta Moses is also German.
At least four hostages dead
According to Israel and Hamas, at least four hostages have died in captivity. A 19-year-old soldier and two other people were killed by their captors, according to Israeli officials. Hamas said an 86-year-old died after a heart attack. A total of 30 minors have been released so far, six are still being held by Hamas or other terrorist organizations in Gaza. At least five people over 80 years old are still in captivity.
In return, Israel released 180 imprisoned Palestinians from prison – that’s about three per hostage. The Palestinians are minors and women. The agreement agreed between the Israeli government and Hamas was initially scheduled to last four days, but was then extended for another two days. It is expected to expire Thursday morning. Relatives of the hostages are now pushing for another extension.