The ceasefire in the Gaza war continues. Once again, relatives of hostages can look forward to their return. Whether this will be the case again on Friday remains uncertain.
According to the Israeli military, the Islamist Hamas has handed over another group of hostages to the Red Cross. The army announced on Thursday evening that six Israelis had been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. They are now on their way from Egypt to Israel. Two hostages had previously been brought separately to Israel. It was initially unclear whether any more hostages could be expected to be released. According to media reports, a total of ten Israeli hostages were originally supposed to be released by Hamas on Thursday.
In return, three times as many Palestinian prisoners were planned to be released from Israeli prisons that evening. According to Palestinian reports, eight women and 22 male youths under the age of 19 were involved. However, if Hamas only releases eight Israelis, the number of prisoners to be released could probably be lower.
It was also unclear whether the ceasefire, which according to previous agreements was supposed to end on Friday morning, would be extended again. According to unconfirmed reports, discussions about an extension are ongoing in the background.
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, in principle, last until Monday morning. However, it was unclear whether Hamas would be able and willing to release ten more hostages every day, as Israel demanded.
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 Hamas, almost 15,000 people were killed. More than 36,000 were injured. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.
Source: Stern
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