Israel-Hamas: More hostages freed by Hamas after truce extended
Eleven more hostages released as truce extended for two days, but some family members are being kept behind. Follow latest updates. Warning: Graphic.
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Stories of families being reunited are continuing to emerge after another 11 hostages were released in the Gaza Strip were back on Israeli territory.
But families remain split after Hamas kept some members captive.
Among them are Kibbutz Nir Oz residents Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twin daughters, Yuli and Emma, 3.
Sharon’s husband David Cunio, 34, remains captive in Gaza - another example of what Israel said was a breach of the truce agreement that families weren’t going to be split up.
Sharon’s sister, Danielle Aloni, 44, and her five-year-old daughter Emilia, were abducted with them and were released on November 24.
When the October 7 attack began, the family sheltered in a safe room - they could hear Hamas militants in a neighbour’s home and then in their own.
Mrs Cunio told family she wasn’t sure they were going to make it as smoke began to filter through into the sealed room.
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Later that day, a TikTok video appeared to show David, Sharon and one of the twins on the back of a pickup truck with Hamas terrorists, the Times of Israel reported.
The entire family were later confirmed as hostages.
The Israeli military said: “Our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families,” it said in a statement, adding the military “salutes and embraces the released hostages upon their return home”.
The freed Israelis are dual nationals of France, Germany and Argentina.
The IDF asks the public to “demonstrate patience and sensitivity during this time out of respect for the released hostages and their families.”
They are being assessed by doctors, alongside other hostages who will be able to call their families for the first time, before they are airlifted to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital where they will be treated further and be reunited with their families, the Times of Israel reported.
Their release comes after a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was extended by two days.
The extension was hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war”.
Qatar - with the support of the United States and Egypt - has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza.
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HOSTAGE FAMILIES ‘FULL OF HAPPINESS’
People who had loved ones held hostage by Hamas militants have revealed their relief after they were released.
Diego Engel-Bert, whose sister Karina Engel-Bert and neices Mika Engel, 17, and Yuval Engel, 11, were released on Monday local time, said they were starting to some “ligght in the darkness”.
“We are all here glued to the screen and full of happiness and longing. It’s good to have a chest to stop the heart from escaping,” told Channel 12 News.
“We’re starting to see a little light in the darkness we are in, waiting for them to come so we can hug. Just hug, not need to talk, everything else will come later.”
Yaniv Yaakov, the uncle of Or Yaakov, 17, and Yagil Yaakov, who were also released, said his family were smiling.
“Even in the difficult bits, everyone wants to be with us, and also in happiness. What excites me the most is my mother, the children’s grandmother, a mother with a smile at last,” he told Channel 13 News.
FREED TEEN SAYS ISRAELI PRISON GUARDS BEAT HIM
A Palestinian teenager who was released from an Israeli prison as part of the Hamas hostage exchange deal told Al Jazeera he was beaten up by Israeli guards last week.
Mohammed Nazzal, originally from Jenin, said is hand and finger were broken by the guards but he was not given any treatment.
After he was released the Red Cross put his arm in a sling.
“They (Israeli’s) gave me nothing,” he said.
“I broke my hand, I can’t move my finger.”
SEX AND THE CITY STAR PROTESTS ISRAEL WAR
Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon has taken part in a five-day hunger strike outside the White House, where protestors are calling on the White House to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
ELON MUSK VISITS ISRAEL
Israel’s president told Elon Musk on Monday that the tech mogul has “a huge role to play” to combat anti-Semitism, which his social media platform is accused of spreading.
The meeting came after the world’s richest person visited a kibbutz community devastated in attacks by Hamas militants on October 7, and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence officials.
Musk has been criticised over what critics say is a proliferation of hate speech on X, formerly Twitter, since his takeover of the social media site in October 2022.
He has been accused by the White House of “abhorrent promotion” of anti-Semitism after endorsing a conspiracy theory seen as accusing Jews of trying to weaken white majorities.
Israel’s figurehead President Isaac Herzog told him: “Unfortunately, we are inundated by anti-Semitism, which is Jew hatred.
“You have a huge role to play,” he said.
“And I think we need to fight it together because on the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, there’s a harbouring of a lot of... anti-Semitism.” Musk did not mention anti-Semitism in his video remarks released by Herzog’s office, but said Hamas militants “have been fed propaganda since they were children”.
“It’s remarkable what humans are capable of if they’re fed falsehoods, from when they are children; they will think that the murder of innocent people is a good thing,” he said.
MORE HOSTAGES TO BE RELEASED AFTER TRUCE EXTENDED
Another 20 hostages will be released by Hamas under an agreement to extend a truce with Israel by two days, according to the White House.
It comes as the Israeli military said 11 hostages were on their way out of Gaza on the last day of an initial four-day pause in fighting.
“According to the information provided by the Red Cross, 11 Israeli hostages are on their way to Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement.
The US’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier confirmed that Hamas agreed to release another 20 captives in exchange for a 48-hour extension, which he hoped would be further extended after their release.
“And that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages,” he said.
Kirby added, however, that he didn’t expect the cease fire to continue into a permanent peace in the Gaza Strip.
“I won’t speak for the Israeli Defense Forces, but when these pauses are over, they have made it very clear that they’re going to continue to target Hamas leadership,” Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement that he had spoken to the family of a four-year-old American girl who had been released, and added that they would not stop until all hostages were freed.
“I have remained deeply engaged over the last few days to ensure that this deal--brokered and sustained through extensive U.S. mediation and diplomacy--can continue to deliver results,” he said.
“Thus far, more than 50 hostages have now been released and returned to their families. Those released include young children, mothers, and grandmothers.”
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HAMAS RELEASE THAI AND RUSSIAN HOSTAGES
Three Thai nationals were also freed as was Russian dual national Roni Krivoi, the first adult male to be released, with Hamas citing President Vladmir Putin’s support for Palestine’s cause.
About a dozen more hostages were being lined up to be freed on Tuesday.
But as the four-day truce that had allowed the more than 50 hostages to be freed drew to a close, Hamas agreed to an extension plan which included releasing 10 hostages a day for every additional day of truce.
It was the first time the militants had agreed to extend the deal which was also to include the release of Palestinians being held in Israeli detention.
“Hamas informed the mediators that the resistance movements were willing to extend the current truce by two to four days,” a source close to Hamas said, adding 20 to 40 hostages could be released in that time.
NETANYAHU IN GAZA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made the first visit by an Israeli premier to Gaza since 2005, telling soldiers there that the war would continue “until victory”.
“Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war’s goals, and we will,” he added.
POTENTIAL TRUCE COMPLICATIONS
More than 40 of the hostages are not currently held by Hamas, potentially creating complications for the truce extension.
The truce agreement calls for Hamas to hand over hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
It has been reported that 40 to 50 of the hostages were being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other groups or individuals.
MORE HOSTAGES TO BE RELEASED
Israel’s prime minister’s office has released a statement about a list of hostages expected to be released by Hamas on Monday.
“Discussions are being held on the list that was received overnight and which is now being evaluated in Israel,” the office said.
According to The Times of Israel, Israel has flagged concerns with list of hostages up for release.
Reuters cites an unnamed official briefed on the matter as saying Jerusalem has raised concerns over the names on the list.
At the same time, Hamas has similarly flagged concerns with a list of Palestinian security prisoners Israel intends to release in exchange.
Mediators in Qatar are trying to resolve the issues.
Monday is the final day of the negotiated truce between Hamas and Israel.
While there has been discussion about extending the truce, no new deal has been announced yet.
TRUCE EXTENSION ‘WELCOME’
Negotiators between Hamas and Israel, including Qatar, the US and Egypt, welcomed the potential ceasefire extension.
But Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Hamas could not seek to extend the truce without finding the 40 women and children allegedly being held by civilians, gangs and other Islamist groups including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). PIJ has already bragged it was holding hostages of its own.
“We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find because … one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people,” the Qatari prime minister said.
There has been a hint of where some of the remaining hostages could be held.
The Israel Defence Force yesterday sent out mass text messages to residents in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis saying they knew they were there.
“The army will neutralise anyone who has kidnapped hostages,” the SMS warned.
Israel meanwhile held out a carrot, confirming it had a list of another 150 names of Palestinians, beyond those already earmarked for release, should a truce extension and prisoner swap deal occur.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the possibility of extending the truce with Hamas would be “welcome”.
“We brought back another group of hostages this evening – women and children, and we are moved from the depths of our hearts, the entire nation, when we see this reuniting of families. It simply stirs the soul,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“There is also an outline that says that it is possible to release an additional ten hostages each day. That would be welcome.”
US SECRETARY OF STATE PART OF TRUCE TALKS
US President Joe Biden said the hostages had to be brought home as he dispatched his Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel as part of truce talks.
“That’s our goal to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow,” he said. “Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted but the proof that this is working, and worth pursuing further is in every smile and be grateful of the tears we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again.”
President Biden said he also wanted to see “a surge” in aid into Gaza for the Palestinian civilians trapped in atrocious conditions in the war zone.
The United Nations said the 160 to 200 trucks it was already seeing going into Gaza was “hardly enough”.
It estimated that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting which had also killed 14,000 Palestinian civilians including an unspecified number of militants.
Among those militants, Hamas confirmed its top northern brigade commander Ahmed Al-Ghandour and four other senior leaders.
IDF CLAIMS HAMAS VIOLATED DEAL
Israel Defense Forces is claiming Hamas violated the terms of the truce by releasing a teenage girl without her mother.
On Saturday, 13-year-old Hila Rotem was freed without her mother Raaya Rotem despite demands from Israeli officials.
“They were supposed to not split families, but they released a teenage girl and they kept her mother, Raaya, in captivity,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN.
When the IDF asked about Hila’s mother, Hamas claimed they did not know where she is, Conricus said.
“The daughter tells us that they were together up until two days before the release,” Conricus said, adding he believes Hamas kept Raaya Rotem to maintain leverage.
“They want to leverage each and every Israeli in their captivity for political pressure,” Conricus said.
Conricus said the IDF has indications that Hamas has been moving hostages during the truce period.
“Our security agencies are debriefing and asking questions and trying to learn as much as possible from these women and children,” he said.
– with AFP.
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