The truce between Israel and Hamas was likely to last just under 24 hours but, thanks to the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, the exchange between Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners was confirmed in the evening. Thirteen Israelis – and according to initial information also 7 foreigners – will leave the Strip in the evening in exchange for 39 Palestinians 50 days after the October 7 massacre. A turning point after 5 hours of uncertainty, and anguish for the relatives, in which it seemed that the agreement was on the verge of falling apart already on the second day. The 13 Israeli hostages, almost all from Kibbutz Beeri – one of the most affected last October 7 – will pass into the hands of the Red Cross and Israel will start the procedures for the release of the 39 Palestinian prisoners who are in Ofer prison. It was Hamas who delayed the release, justifying it with the fact that “Israel has not implemented the elements of the agreement”.
An accusation completely rejected by Israel which threatened “the resumption of fighting from midnight tonight if the hostages are not freed”. The halt to the agreement came from the al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, which targeted the failure to comply with «the agreement on the entry of humanitarian trucks into the northern Gaza Strip and the failure to comply with the agreed standards for the release of prisoners.”
Hamas’s objection, according to what was learned, referred to the names and the temporal order in which Israel scheduled the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli political sources, quoted by the media, responded that «there has been no violation of the agreements. Just as Hamas decides at each stage who to release from its hostage list, we decide which Palestinian security detainees are to be released in exchange.”
According to security sources, 61 trucks of humanitarian aid out of the 200 that passed today, including fuel and gas tankers, were transferred to the north of the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded that “340 trucks have entered Gaza since last Friday, 65 of which have reached the north of the Strip. A number that is less than half of what Israel has agreed upon.” For the Palestinian Red Crescent, humanitarian aid was successfully delivered today to the city of Gaza and the northern governorate of Gaza in the largest convoy” since the start of the war in the Strip.
Indirect communication channels between the parties immediately moved to resolve the stalemate. Qatar – today its officials arrived by plane in Israel – has moved its pawns trying to reach a mediation “as soon as possible”. And Egypt also announced that it had made “intense efforts” to complete the second tranche of the exchange of Palestinian hostages and detainees. US President Joe Biden also played his part, speaking with Qatar, to break the deadlock. Earlier in the day, before everything shut down, the scenario and signals had appeared even better than expected. Egyptian sources revealed that further negotiations were underway to extend the truce in place until Monday by one or more days. And they had received “positive indications” from both sides.
The effort is to encourage an exchange of hostages and detainees as large as possible until reaching, as mentioned from the first moment, 100 hostages freed (out of 230 held in Gaza) for 300 Palestinian detainees, while the current agreement predicts 50 for 150. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who entered Gaza today in the part under Israeli control, warned that the military will remain in the Strip until all the hostages are returned and any future negotiations with Hamas are conducted during the fighting. If the weapons are silent in Gaza, in the West Bank, considered the ‘internal front of the war’, the clashes with the Israeli army continue. South of Jenin, two Palestinians were killed, the Wafa agency reported.
To know more
– The hugs, the ice cream and then to school: the return to life of the little hostages
– Hamas party for freed prisoners: “In prison they gave us vinegar to drink”
– The relentless lottery of release, those lives hanging on a whim
– Putin, the sovereignists and the weak West
Relative hostages freed, we will fight for everyone’s return
“As happy as we are, and there is no happier person than us right now, we will continue to fight for everyone’s return as soon as possible.” These are the words with which one of the relatives of the hostages freed today by Hamas commented on the release on Channel 13, as reported by Haaretz. Aviv Habaron was able to hug his niece Adi Shoham and her children Neve, 8, and Yahel, 3, today. “We hope that the next groups will be released in the next few days,” he said
Germany, ‘relieved’ by the release of 4 German hostages
The German Foreign Minister said she was ‘relieved’ at the release of a second group of hostages by Hamas, including four other citizens with dual German and Israeli citizenship. “Relief and fear are still so close today – she writes on they will be free soon.” Already on Friday, on the first day of the truce, Hamas had released another four Israeli-German citizens.
Israel announces release of 39 Palestinians
After several hours of delay which raised fears of a violation of the truce, Israel and Hamas carried out the second exchange of 13 Israeli hostages – plus four Thais – with 39 Palestinian prisoners, repeating the pattern of the previous day. “The released hostages underwent an initial medical evaluation inside Israeli territory. They will continue to be accompanied by IDF soldiers on their journey to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families,” the army said in a statement, confirming the arrival of the 17 hostages in Israel. The Red Cross was responsible for the transfer of the 17 hostages from the Gaza Strip to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, where, after a preliminary medical check, they were handed over to the Israeli security services, who took them to Kerem Shalom, the crossing between Egypt and Israel. There the authorities verified the identity of the freed people, who are 8 Israeli children and 5 women, kidnapped during the attack on Kibbutzim Beeri and Kfar Aza. For its part, the Israeli prison service confirmed, shortly after the arrival of the hostages in Israel, that it had released 39 Palestinian prisoners, 6 women and 33 teenagers on charges of terrorism, but without blood crimes. Among the hostages already released are Sharon Avigdori, 52, and her daughter Noam Avigdori, 12, from Kfar Aza, and brothers Noam Or, 17, and Alma Or, 13, whose mother Yonat was killed in Beeri and whose father Dron and cousin remain in captivity. Also released were the girls Emily Hand, 9 years old, and Hila Rotem, 13 years old, whose mother remains kidnapped, in what Israel considers a violation of the agreement, and Mia Regev Jarbi, 21 years old, who was transported directly by helicopter to a hospital because she was injured. Additionally, Noga Weiss, 53, and her daughter Shiri Weiss, 18, residents of Beeri, and part of the Haran-Sholam family returned to Israel: grandmother Shoshan Haran, 67, with daughter Adi Shoham, 38, and two grandchildren Yehal and Naveh, ages 3 and 8; while her husband and five other family members remain prisoners in the Gaza Strip
Austin talks to Gallant and asks for more humanitarian aid in Gaza
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin spoke by telephone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and expressed the need for more humanitarian aid in Gaza. The newspaper Haarets reports it, citing the Pentagon. “Secretary Austin shared his view that humanitarian aid must increase and that civilians must have safe areas to receive aid throughout Gaza,” the US Department of Defense said in a statement. Austin also reaffirmed the need to prevent the conflict from spreading to Lebanon.
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