Hostage Release and Cease-fire Extension in Gaza Strip
Hamas released another group of hostages to the custody of the Red Cross on Monday, Qatari officials said, not long after officials announced an agreement between the Palestinian group and Israel to extend a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip for another two days.
Israel's military said that according to information provided by the Red Cross, 11 hostages are on their way to Israeli territory. The Red Cross said at around 8 p.m. local time that the freed group had been turned over into its care.
Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the group includes 3 French citizens, 2 German citizens and 6 Argentinian citizens. In exchange, Al-Ansari said, Israel is releasing 33 Palestinians — 30 minors and 3 women — from Israeli prisons.
Earlier Monday, mediating country Qatar announced the two-day extension of the temporary cease-fire, which began Friday and was initially set to last four days.
"The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," Al-Ansari said in a social media post.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House has confirmed that Hamas has agreed to release 20 additional hostages being held in Gaza back to Israel over the next two days. The spokesperson also mentioned that they are working to extend the cease-fire further than that.
Last week, negotiations led to the first pause in fighting since the war began, following the deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas militants and the Israeli military's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Under the terms of the temporary truce deal brokered by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt, Hamas agreed to release at least 50 women and children kidnapped in Israel during the attacks and held captive in Gaza. Israel, on the other hand, agreed to free about 150 Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons. The cease-fire has allowed humanitarian aid to reach the war-torn Gaza Strip, which has been heavily damaged by airstrikes.
Although the original terms of the short-term deal called for a four-day cease-fire, Israel had publicly stated that it would be willing to extend the pause for an additional day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas. It is estimated that militants had taken 240 hostages from Israel on Oct. 7, including some foreign nationals.
Hostage Release in Israel
The latest hostage release on Monday came after three earlier rounds of releases. Each of those days, Israel released 39 Palestinian women and teens who had been imprisoned in Israel, for a total of 117 so far.
On Sunday, 17 hostages were released back to Israel, including 14 Israeli citizens and three foreign nationals, according to Israeli officials. The group included Abigail Mor Edan, a 4-year-old Israeli-American girl who was the youngest American citizen being held captive.
Hamas released the second group, 17 hostages, from Gaza late on Saturday night after an hours-long delay. Thirteen of the hostages who were freed that night are Israeli, and four are Thai nationals, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. The group included seven Israeli children whose ages ranged from 3 to 16 years old, according to the prime minister's office.
The first group released by Hamas on Friday included 24 hostages — 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino, officials said.
"We just completed the return of the first of our hostages: children, their mothers and additional women," said Netanyahu on Friday. "Each of them is an entire world. But I emphasize to you, the families, and to you, citizens of Israel: we are committed to returning all the hostages. This is one of the aims of the war and we are committed to achieving all the aims of the war."
