For the sixth day in a row, the Islamist Hamas has handed over Israeli hostages to the Red Cross. Among them were three with German citizenship.
Gaza/Tel Aviv – The Islamist Hamas has handed over a sixth group of hostages to the Red Cross as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza war. As in the previous days, there were ten Israelis, the Israeli army said.
These include three Germans who also have Israeli passports, as well as a dual citizen each from the USA and the Netherlands, explained Majid al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry. In addition, two Russians and four Thais were released due to Hamas violence.
In return, 16 Palestinian minors and 14 Palestinian women would be released from Israeli prisons, Al-Ansari said. It was initially unclear whether the ceasefire, which according to previous agreements could end on Thursday, would be extended a second time and thus enable further exchanges. Qatar is confident that the progress of the past few days can be maintained and that a further extension is possible.
Two Russians were released earlier in the day
Earlier in the day, Hamas said it had handed over two Russian hostages to the Red Cross. Hamas emphasized that these two abductees were released thanks to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They were supposed to be handed over by the Red Cross to representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. These releases, as well as those of a Russian on Sunday and the four Thais on Wednesday, are not part of the exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.
So far, eleven of the hostages, the majority of whom are Israeli, have dual German-Israeli citizenship. According to Israeli information, more than 150 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
Shortly before the end of the ceasefire in the Gaza war, intensive efforts were made to extend it. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to “do everything in our power to extend the pause.” The Islamist Hamas said it was working hard on a possible extension, as a spokesman told the Al-Jazeera news channel.
The ceasefire could last until Monday morning
According to the original agreement of the war opponents, the ceasefire could be extended to a maximum of ten days in order to enable the further release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Since the ceasefire began on Friday morning, it could then last until Monday morning. During the ceasefire, 81 hostages were released by Tuesday evening. In return, Israel has so far released 180 Palestinians from its 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. dpa
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