Waffenruhe in the Middle East: “Stand Hungert” – Israel shocked about the condition of the hostages

The Islamist Hamas has released three more hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel. In return, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners from his prisons. Hamas left Ohad Ben Ami (56), Or Levy (34) and Eli Scharabi (52) hostage in the Gaza Strip after 16 months. Her emaciated and pale appearance caused horror in Israel.

Recordings of the hostage handover to representatives of the International Committee from the Red Cross (IKRK) showed how the three weakly acting Israelis were initially led to a stage in Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip by hooded and armed Hamas members. According to Israeli media, they thanked them in the appearance of their hostage -makers in the appearance of the Hamas.

There was also a fist on the stage with a Palestinian flag. The Islamist organization, which was extremely battered after 16 months of war, has always used the release in the past few weeks as a demonstration of power. Hundreds of onlookers persecuted the staged procedure on site, as could be seen in live broadcasts. Israel’s President Izchak Herzog spoke of a “cynical and cruel spectacle”.

Discorization in Israel after sight of the hostage

Relatives and politicians in Israel reacted dismayed in view of the apparently poor condition of the freed. According to Israeli media, the daughter of Ohad Ben Ami (56) said that she had hardly recognized her father. She just wanted to hug him, said Ella Ben Ami.

According to Israeli media, the brother of Or Levy said that it was difficult to see him in this way after everything he went through. His three -year -old son was excited and could hardly wait to see his father again, Tal Levy said. The child’s mother was killed at the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 at the Nova Music Festival.

The relatives of Eli Scharabi, whose wife, together with the two daughters together on October 7, was murdered by terrorists, were relieved about his release. At the same time, they are “sad, but not surprised” about the poor physical condition of the freed -out men, it said.

Israel’s president: hostage “excited” and “emaciated”

“This is what a crime against humanity looks like,” said Israeli President Isaac Duke in view of the condition of the hostages. “The whole world has to look at Ohad, Or and Eli, who after 491 days hell, starved, emaciated and suffering.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the “shocking pictures” would not remain unanswered. He announced measures – without naming details. According to government information, Israel complained to the States of Qatar, Egypt and the USA mediating between the country and the Hamas.

Among families of the hostages, who are only supposed to be released in a second phase of the deal, the pictures of the men tighten the fear of the condition of their relatives in the violence of the Islamists.

Recordings published by the government showed how the men were received by the army. The free, hingled or Levy seems to be difficult to fall. He was taken to a clinic in the center of the country. The other two men should also be flown to clinics.

BAERBOCK: Geisel-Freiricht Reason for hope

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed the release of the hostages. “This is a reason for joy and gives hope,” said the Greens politician on the Bluesky platform. “At the same time, it is unbearable that Hamas performed the three men again publicly at the last moment and forces” interviews “.”

In his thoughts, she was particularly with the German -Israeli Raz Ben Ami, the wife of the released Ohad Ben Ami – she was deported to the Gaza strip herself and was released in November 2023. “14 months after her own release, she can finally put her husband Ohad back into her arms,” ​​wrote Baerbock.

Cheers in Ramallah after release of prisoners

In Ramallah in the West Bank hundreds, hundreds were waiting for the arrival of the Palestinian prisoners from the Ofer prison, reported the local news agency Wafa. Another group of prisoners left a prison in the Negev desert in Israel and was on the way to the Gaza Strip, reported the “Times of Israel”.

This group includes 111 Palestinians who had been arrested in the course of the Gaza War, as well as 20 people who had previously been sentenced to high prison terms. According to reports, 42 prisoners returned to the West Bank and three to East Jerusalem. Seven prisoners are banished abroad as part of the agreement due to their serious crimes.

76 hostages in the Gaza Strip – 35 should be dead

Palestinian terrorists had delayed the hostages during the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 in Israel. Since the beginning of the ceasefire in the Gaza War on January 19, Hamas has released 16 out of a total of 33 Israeli hostages, which are to be handed over by Hamas during the first phase of the three-stage agreement. In addition, the terrorist organization left five Thai countries, but not as part of the agreement with Israel.

Hamas had previously announced that eight of the 33 Israeli hostages were dead. It is unclear who it is.

Now a total of 76 hostages are recorded in the Gaza Strip. 35 of them are according to Israeli information. The next hostages are to be released next weekend. In total, more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners are said to be released in the first phase of the agreement in exchange for hostages.

Negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire run

The ceasefire had been negotiated in tedious indirect conversations between Israel and Hamas with the mediation of the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Efforts are made to agree on a second phase of the agreement, which should lead to a final end to the war and to the release of the remaining hostages that are still alive. For a third phase, the return of corpses kidnapped and the reconstruction of the heavily destroyed Gaza Strip is planned.

Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed around 1,200 people on October 7, 2023 and abducted more than 250 Israelis as hostages into the Gaza strip on October 7, 2023. The attack was the trigger of the war in the sealed coastal area, where, according to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 48,100 people have been killed since then. The number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.