Two German hostages free
Another group of Gaza hostages handed over to Red Cross
November 27, 2023, 8:57 p.m
The ceasefire should be extended. Hamas is now handing over eleven more Israeli hostages to the Red Cross. This is what the Israeli army says. According to reports, there are nine children and two women, including two Germans. They are already on their way to Israel.
The ceasefire in the Gaza war is extended. According to Qatar’s mediator, Israel and the Islamist Hamas agreed to extend the ceasefire, which was initially scheduled to last four days, by two days. This was announced by the spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majid al-Ansari, a few hours before the end of the first ceasefire. This means that the ceasefire that has been in effect since Friday morning is likely to last until Thursday morning.
As part of the ceasefire, the Islamist Hamas handed over another group of hostages to the Red Cross, according to the Israeli army. Eleven Israelis were placed in the care of Red Cross employees on Monday, the Israeli army said. According to Israeli media reports, there are nine children and two women. In return, 33 female and teenage Palestinian prisoners are to be released. Israeli media had reported that several Thai hostages in the Gaza Strip were also to be released.
According to Qatar, two German dual nationals are among the eleven Israeli Hamas hostages. In addition, three French and six Argentinians with dual citizenship are to be released, as the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on the online service X. The Israeli army had recently announced that eleven hostages from the radical Islamic group Hamas were on their way to Israel.
According to media reports, there had previously been disagreements over the lists of names for the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. According to media reports, Israel criticized the fact that mothers had been separated from their children. It was the fourth group of hostages to be released since the ceasefire began on Friday. So far, 58 hostages have been released, including eight German dual citizens. In exchange for the released Israeli hostages, 117 Palestinians were released from prison.
Hamas’ youngest hostage is 10 months old
Israeli government spokesman Eilon Levi said before Monday’s release that 184 hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip. Of these, 14 are foreigners and 80 are Israelis with a second passport. The youngest of the hostages, a ten-month-old baby, had not yet been released. The boy was kidnapped with his parents and four-year-old brother. The break in fighting between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar, was initially scheduled for four days. A few hours before the end of this phase, both sides agreed on an extension of two days. The extended ceasefire is expected to include the daily release of 10 hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners each in Israeli prisons.
The latest Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from the Gaza Strip committed in Israel near the border on October 7th. More than 1,200 people were killed. Around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza, including several Germans. Israel responded with massive airstrikes, a blockade of the Gaza Strip and began a ground offensive in late October. According to the Islamist Hamas, almost 15,000 people were killed. More than 36,000 were injured. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.