27-11-2023 (GAZA) In a move towards de-escalation, Hamas has released 17 hostages, including a four-year-old American girl, in Gaza on November 26. Concurrently, Israel reciprocated by releasing Palestinian prisoners on the third day of their truce. The International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the transfer of the hostages from Gaza.
Hamas reported that it handed over 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one individual with Russian citizenship. Reuters TV footage captured Palestinians being freed from Israeli prisons on Sunday. The International Red Cross stated its involvement in releasing 19 Palestinian prisoners, although the total number remains uncertain.
The release of hostages captured during the October 7 rampage by Hamas fighters in southern Israel coincided with Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, according to the International Red Cross. The four-day truce, the first cessation of hostilities in seven weeks since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages into Gaza, is a tentative step towards peace.
President Biden expressed hope for an extended pause in fighting as long as prisoners continue to be released. He acknowledged the harrowing ordeal of the four-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, who witnessed her parents being killed during the October 7 raid into Israel.
These were the last moments that the hostages spent together with the soldiers of the Israeli Army before they went to hospitals or to meet with their families.
Poor 4-year-old Abigail Edan (in pink) was orphaned in the October 7th attack and only had IDF soldiers to play with pic.twitter.com/iAkUNParHq
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 26, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while meeting security forces in the Gaza Strip, expressed openness to extending the truce if accompanied by the daily release of 10 captives. However, he emphasized that, at the truce’s conclusion, Israel would return with full force to achieve its goals, including the elimination of Hamas.
The fragility of the truce was underscored by the killing of a Palestinian farmer in the central Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. Additionally, Hamas reported the deaths of four of its military commanders, raising concerns about the overall stability of the situation.
Efforts by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States to extend the truce beyond Monday are underway, though the outcome remains uncertain. Israel’s condition for extending the ceasefire is contingent on Hamas continuing to release at least 10 hostages daily, with up to 100 hostages potentially being freed.
The November 25 swap followed the initial release of 13 Israeli hostages by Hamas in exchange for the release of 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli prisons. The recent developments bring a glimmer of hope for calm after weeks of violence that has claimed numerous lives and displaced hundreds of thousands in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
