During the ceasefire, Hamas released dozens of Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip. Whether the soon-to-end agreement will be extended will be decided far away from the theater of war. The overview.
After the release of another group of hostages, negotiations continue to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza war that ended on Thursday morning.
The US said it would continue to work with Israel, Qatar and Egypt to see whether the breaks could be extended further. Today too, hostages are to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Releases announced
A senior member of the Islamist Hamas has announced the release of two female hostages with Russian nationality. Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marsuk told a Gaza radio station that the release was outside the agreement with Israel and as a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The women are to be released on Wednesday in addition to ten Israeli hostages.
The Israeli hostages are to be released in return for the release of 30 other Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Hamas had already released a 25-year-old Israeli-Russian dual citizen without compensation on Sunday. So far, Hamas has released 81 Israelis and foreigners in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners.
So far, eleven of the hostages, the majority of whom are Israeli, have dual German-Israeli citizenship. According to Israel, more than 150 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, including a ten-month-old baby.
On Tuesday evening, the Islamists released ten Israelis and two foreigners, including a woman with German citizenship. She was the eleventh German-Israeli citizen to be released. A total of 81 hostages were released during the break in fighting that began on Friday. 61 of them are Israelis, some of whom have other citizenships, and 20 are foreigners. In return, Israel has so far released 180 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons.
The Gulf Emirate of Qatar, Egypt and the USA are mediating in talks about the ceasefire. According to information from the German Press Agency, CIA Director William Burns and the head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, arrived in Doha on Tuesday to talk to Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman Al Thani about extending the break. Qatar has good contacts with the organization. The Hamas leadership lives in the Gulf Emirate.
G7 countries want a longer ceasefire
Before the ceasefire expired, the group of seven economically strong democracies (G7) spoke out overnight in favor of an extension of the agreement and called for the release of all hostages. “If there are longer pauses that go beyond these two days, then you know we are in favor of it and we will continue to work on it,” said United States National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby. The US government wants all hostages to be released. The G7 foreign ministers of the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and Canada called for the same.
Washington hopes that more hostages with US citizenship will be released, said Kirby. So far, a four-year-old American girl who witnessed the murder of her parents in the Hamas massacre has been among those released. The government believes two additional women with U.S. citizenship are being held. Another seven with US passports are missing – it is not clear whether they are among the hostages.
Netanyahu insists on military destruction of Hamas
Despite the ongoing ceasefire, Netanyahu reiterated the goal of military destruction of Hamas. He did not say how long the ceasefire could last. “We have agreed that the women and children and the foreign hostages will be released first. After that happens, we will continue the fighting,” Netanyahu told Welt TV in an interview published on Tuesday, conducted in English and by Welt TV was translated into German.
Hamas has committed the worst murders and will do so again, said the conservative head of government. “We have no choice at all but to destroy Hamas,” he said. Israel will continue to do everything possible to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip as much as possible. However, according to Hamas, almost 15,000 people have been killed there and around 36,000 people have been injured. Another 7,000 residents of the coastal strip are missing.
Hamas took Israeli teenagers with a dog hostage
There was a little surprise during the hostage exchange on Tuesday: one of the freed people had her dog Bella with her during the 52 days in captivity. Netanyahu’s office released a photo of the 17-year-old back in Israel with her mother, who was also released, and her Shih Tzu dog Bella. The young woman was abducted to the Gaza Strip along with other family members and kept the dog with her.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
