More Hamas hostages were freed on Wednesday, the last day of an extended ceasefire deal with Israel – with at least one American included in the latest exchange, according to reports.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, said it had handed over a sixth wave of hostages, an estimated 12 people, who will receive a medical examination from the Red Cross before being transferred to an Israeli hospital.
The hostages included 10 Israelis: Raz Ben Ami, 57; Roman Yarden, 36; Liat Atzili, 49; Moran Stela Yana, 40; Liam Orr, 18; Itay Regev, 18; Ofir Engel, 17; Amit Shani, 16; Gali Tarshansky, 13; and Raya Rotem, 54; The Times of Israel reported.
Hostages reunited with their families at the Rafah border crossing. Al Qahera News 14 hostages were released on Wednesday. Al Qahera news
Atzili, a mother of three, is an Israeli-American dual citizen who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz with her husband, Aviv, 49, who lives in Gaza.
Atzili, who serves as a tour guide at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, in Jerusalem, was hiding in a safe room in his home when he was last heard calling his friend on Oct. 7.
Her husband, a mechanic and metalwork artist, went missing while responding to the call of Israel’s security response team during the terrorist attack, according to the Times.
Atzil is the second American hostage released during the ceasefire agreement after Hamas freed 4-year-old Abigail Edan.
Upon his return to Israel, Rotem will be reunited with his 13-year-old daughter, Hila, who was among the group of hostages freed on Saturday.
10 Israelis and four Thai hostages were released. Al Qahera news
Also reunited with family was Regev, whose sister, Maya, was also among those released on Saturday.
Four Thai nationals and two women of Russian-Israeli nationality, Yelena Trupanov, 50, and her mother Irena Tati, 73, were included in the group, I24 News reports.
The woman, who was released as a thank you to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is seen in the video being transported in a Red Cross vehicle.
The two women were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Hamas killed Trupanob’s husband, Vitaly. His son, Sasha, and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, remain captive in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.
Itay Regev, 18, was one of the hostages released on Wednesday. Al Qahera news
Hostages were exchanged for the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, including 14 women and 16 minors, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said.
With an estimated 12 hostages freed on Wednesday, Hamas will have released 93 hostages since the ceasefire began on Friday, with Israel freeing 177 detainees, all women and minors.
Israel says there are approximately 161 people still detained in Gaza, including 146 Israelis and 15 foreigners.
Hostage families, and their supporters call for the release of all hostages during a demonstration outside The Kirya ahead of the war cabinet meeting on the fifth day of the temporary ceasefire on November 28, 2023. Getty Images
Officials said that of the remaining hostages, 126 were men and 35 were women. Eight of the hostages are believed to be under the age of 20.
Israel and Hamas are currently in talks to extend the ceasefire, with Israel previously open to extending the ceasefire by one additional day for every 10 hostages released.
Keep up with the news on the Israel-Hamas war and the surge in global antisemitism with The Post’s Israel War Updates, delivered straight to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Families hug at the Rafah border crossing. Al Qahera news
Despite claims by Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that both sides appear willing to extend the ceasefire for another two days, an agreement has yet to be reached.
“We are doing everything we can to get the hostages out. Nothing is confirmed until it is confirmed,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters Wednesday. “We are talking about very sensitive negotiations where human lives hang in the balance.”
Adhering to the current cease-fire agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to destroy Hamas, saying Wednesday that any truce would be temporary.
Hamas fighters escort newly freed hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip on November 28, 2023. UPI/Shutterstock
“From the beginning of the war I set three goals,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “Get rid of Hamas, return all our hostages, and ensure that Gaza will never again be a threat to the State of Israel. These three goals still stand.”
“There is no situation where we do not return to fight until the end,” he added.
Israeli officials involved in the peace talks allegedly claimed that they did not want to extend the ceasefire last Sunday, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
