Israel-Hamas war updates: More hostages to be released as ceasefire expected to end
Families of the next group of hostages to be released have been told they could be home in hours - just as the current ceasefire is expected to end. Follow the updates. Warning: Graphic.
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A truce between Israel and Hamas is about to enter its sixth day after additional hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, with mediators pushing for a more “sustainable” ceasefire.
After a 48-hour extension of an initial four-day truce, a new group of 12 hostages was freed from Gaza, with 30 Palestinians released by Israel.
The final 24 hours of the extended agreement begins in the coming hours with one more exchange of hostages for prisoners expected, but mediator Qatar said it was hoping for a more durable arrangement.
“Our main focus right now, and our hope, is to reach a sustainable truce that will lead to further negotiations and eventually to an end... to this war,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference.
“However, we are working with what we have. And what we have right now is the provision to the agreement that allows us to extend days as long as Hamas is able to guarantee the release of at least 10 hostages.” That provision has allowed the two-day extension that saw 10 Israeli hostages released from Gaza along with two Thais freed outside the scope of the agreement.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it has received a list with the names of abducted Israelis that Hamas to be released.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the families of those on the list have been informed, without giving further details.
The release of the Israeli group as well as two Thai nationals brings the total number of freed hostages to 86 from around 240 people taken to the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel.
Adding to the 60 Israeli hostages who have been released since fighting paused on Friday, 19 Thais, a Filipino and a Russian-Israeli have also been freed though not part of the agreement.
Five hostages were also released in October before the truce, one of them rescued in an Israeli military operation.
According to information from relatives, Israeli media and the Hostage Families Forum, the 10 Israeli hostages just released are:
Mia Leimberg, mother Gabriela and aunt Clara Marman
Mia Leimberg, 17, is the youngest hostage released on Tuesday. She was taken back to Israel along with her 59-year-old mother Gabriela Leimberg and aunt Clara Marman, 63, who were all abducted from Nir Yitzhak kibbutz.
The teenager was seen in footage following her release holding her dog Buffy in her arms.
Originally from Jerusalem, the Leimbergs were visiting Marman, Gabriela’s sister, when Nir Yitzhak was attacked on October 7.
Marman’s partner Luis Har and brother Fernando Marman were also taken hostage and remain in Gaza.
The family had taken refuge in the safe room of the house and tried to block the door with a chair, but to no avail.
The family are Argentinian nationals, according to media reports. At the entrance to the arts school Mia attends in Jerusalem, a banner put up after her abduction read: “Mia, we’re waiting for your return!”
https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/1729608977489567930
Ditza Heiman
The video of 84-year-old Ditza Heiman’s abduction in a car, alongside the testimony of a neighbour, was the only proof of life her family had until now.
Living alone in Nir Oz kibbutz, the widow and former social worker had taken refuge in her safe room. Her phone rang for hours on the day of the attack, until someone speaking in Arabic answered at around 4 pm.
Ditza is great-grandmother to five, who love her secret-recipe soup.
Tamar Metzger
Tamar Metzger, 78, and her husband Yoram, 80, were abducted from their home in Nir Oz.
“So far, so good,” Yoram had texted one of his granddaughters at 8:50 am on October 7.
Yocheved Lifshitz, a hostage released on October 23, had provided the family with proof of life, saying she saw the couple in Gaza.
An avid reader, Tamar, whose family originates from Yemen, is the mother of three children.
She was released without her husband.
Ofelia Roitman
On October 7, 77-year-old Ofelia Roitman’s family lost contact with her shortly before 10 am, while she was in her safe room.
That evening, when soldiers inspected her house, they found no sign of a struggle, suggesting that she had been abducted.
Roitman, an Argentinian national, immigrated to Israel in 1985 and has lived ever since in Nir Oz, where she taught at an elementary school for 20 years.
Her husband, hospitalised after a fall, was absent at the time of the attack.
Ada Sagi
Ada Sagi, who has lived alone in Nir Oz since her husband died of cancer, was abducted from her safe room.
Her son Noam Sagi, who lives in London, had no news of his mother until he saw a video online of a stranger in his mother’s garden.
Ada, who suffers from asthma, had been due to visit him to celebrate her 75th birthday.
The daughter of Polish Holocaust survivors, Ada learned Arabic and then taught it to improve communication with her Palestinian neighbours.
Noralin Agojo
Philippines-born Noralin Agojo, 60, was abducted from Nirim, where she was visiting friends on October 7 along with her partner Gideon Babani who was killed in the attack.
Before her capture, Agojo called her brother Exo and told him he might not see her again.
Agojo lives in Yehud, near Tel Aviv, and enjoys tending to her cactus plants and flowers.
The dual national is the second citizen of the Philippines to be released from captivity in Gaza after 33-year-old Gelienor Pacheco was freed on Friday.
Meirav Tal
Meirav Tal, 53, was freed after the release of her partner’s two children, Yagil and Or Yaakov, on Monday.
Tal and the children’s father, Yair Yaakov who remains in Gaza, were abducted when militants stormed their home in Nir Oz as they were hiding in a safe room.
The children, who were staying with their mother, were taken into Gaza separately.
At 9:20 am on the day of the attack, Tal sent a voice message to her partner’s brother, telling him gunmen had entered the house.
The following day, relatives saw video footage showing militants had used grenades to force their way into the building.
Rimon Kirsht
Abducted from home in Nirim, 36-year-old Rimon Kirsht was taken along with her partner Yagev Buchstab, 34, who has not been released.
The terrified woman sent her mother a voice message at around 8:30 am on October 7, a relative told the media. The message ended with the sounds of militants shouting and firing shots.
Hours later, when Israeli security forces asked residents of the community to gather, Kirsht and Buchstab were missing and their house was empty.
Kirsht, an animal lover and an alternative medicine professional, appeared in a video released by Hamas on October 30, showing her alongside Danielle Aloni -- who was freed on Friday -- and another hostage, Yelena Trupanov, who has not been released.
FORMER HOSTAGE NOW SPEAKS IN WHISPERS
A nine-year-old former Hamas hostage speaks to her family in whispers - and thought she had been held captive a year.
Emily Hand survived nearly two months with Hamas and has told of going from house to house with her abductors to escape the Israeli bombings.
“That’s terrifying. Being pulled, dragged, pushed … under gunfire probably,” her father Thomas Hand told CNN.
Her trauma is so deep she has not yet started speaking properly.
“Apart from the whispering, that was a punch in the guts. A year,” he said.
“She’s a very determined little girl, very strong — I knew that her spirit would get her through it,” Mr Hand said.
Emily was released on the second day of the ceasefire.
She told her father that “‘nobody hit us” during her 50 days in captivity, but the children were only able to draw and play cards and were ordered not to make any noise.
“The most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering, you couldn’t hear her. I had to put my ear on her lips. She’d been conditioned not to make any noise … You could just see glassy-eyed terror,” Mr Hand said.
When asked how long she thought she was gone, Emily replied “a year”.
Emily was released alongside her friend Hila Rotem-Shoshani. The girls were held captive together alongside Hila’s mother, Raaya, who is still believed to be a held hostage.
“[Raaya] looked after them like her own two kids” until they were separated two days before the girls’ release, Mr Hand said.
FEARS OVER BABY USED AS ‘TROPHY’
Fears are growing over the fate of Israel’s youngest hostage Kfir Bibas and whether the 10-month-old is being held captive as a “trophy”.
His aunt, Ofri Bibas, has begged for his release as the end of the ceasefire gets closer.
Kfir was taken along with his brother Ariel, 4, mother Shiri, 32, and father, Yarden, 34.
“At the moment they are the youngest hostages still remaining in Hamas captivity.
“We don’t know where they’ve been held. From what we know, they are kept underground -We’re really worried about the 10-month-old baby with formula as the main diet,” Ms Bibas said.
The IDF stated that Kfir and his family are being held by another “faction” in the southern city of Khan Younis, which is expected to be a major target in Israel’s next offensive, The Sun reported.
That has raised fears he is being used as leverage talks to extend the truce, which is almost about to expire.
CEASEFIRE IN DANGER
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza is in danger of coming undone after Hamas and Israel accused the other of breaking their truce extension.
Violence erupted on the first day of the two-day ceasefire extension even as plans were being drawn up to release 10 more hostages in exchange for 30 prisoners.
Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida said the terror organisation was “committed to the truce as long as the enemy is.”
“As a result of the enemy violating the terms of the truce today, there has been a field clash today and our mujahedeen dealt with the violation,” the Hamas-run TV channel al Aqsa quoted Obaida as saying.
“We are committed to the truce as long as the enemy is.”
The Israeli Defence Force, meanwhile, said three explosive devices were “activated” near its troops in northern Gaza “contrary to the ceasefire agreements”.
“In one of the cases, shots were also fired at the force,” said IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.
“As a result, several fighters were slightly injured. The fighters responded by firing at the sources of the gunfire.
“In both cases, the IDF forces stayed within the agreed ceasefire lines.”
HOSTAGES EN ROUTE TO ISRAEL
Hamas has handed over “several” hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, according to an AFP journalist who saw the exchange.
The hostages, all women, were handed over by masked and armed Hamas fighters to Red Cross officials in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, the journalist said.
It comes after a deal was cut to extend the four-day ceasefire for another 48-hours to exchange more hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel.
The Israeli army said 12 hostages, including 2 foreigners, were on their way to Israel.
10 HOSTAGES FOR 30 PRISONERS
A Hamas source told AFP that 10 hostages held in Gaza would be freed in return for 30 prisoners released from Israeli prisons in the first exchanges under the truce extension.
“Lists of the 10 Israeli hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners for the fifth day of the truce were exchanged without objections,” the source told AFP.
In addition to those releases, “some foreign workers held in Gaza” will also be freed, the source said.
FRAGILE CEASEFIRE EXTENDED
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza has been extended by 48 hours on condition Hamas find missing hostages including eight children and a 10-month old baby ‘lost’ but suspected of being held among refugees in southern Gaza.
French, German, and Argentinian dual nationals were among 11 Israeli hostages freed by Hamas in the fourth group to complete the initial four-day ceasefire deal which was moments from expiring before being extended by another two days.
Those released were two mothers and nine children; fathers of all five families were still being held. Among those freed were Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twin daughters Yuli and Emma Cunio.
Mediators from Qatar, the United States and Egypt were able to negotiate the truce extension but want further extensions amid warnings from Israel that once over, there would be another two months of “intense” war on Gaza including the south where up to 2 million civilians are sheltering.
173 HOSTAGES STILL IN GAZA
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday said there were 173 people who were taken captive on October 7 who were still in Gaza.
Most of the hostages are Israeli citizens; 17 of them are foreigners.
The hostages include six children under the age of 18.
MORE THAN HALF OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS NOT CHARGED
Israel has freed 150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing 69 hostages (as at Tuesday).
According to CNN, 98 of the 150 prisoners were detained without charge and 119 of the prisoners were children. The remaining 31 were women.
Of the 33 Palestinian prisoners released on Monday, 30 were children 18 years old or younger, and 29 of them were boys. There was one 15-year-old girl.
Israel often places Palestinians under administrative detention, a practice widely criticised. This involves detaining someone who is unaware of any charges against them and their case is not subject to any legal process.
At the start of October, more than 1200 Palestinians were being held in administrative detention. According to both Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, it is the highest figure in more than three decades.
Arrests have increased dramatically since the Hamas attacks on October 7, which triggered a war between Israel and Gaza.
ISRAEL, HAMAS PREPARE TO EXCHANGE MORE PEOPLE
Israel on Tuesday announced it had a list of 50 women it was prepared to free from jail in exchange for 20 hostages over the next two days and said there were more if the ceasefire was extended beyond the next 48 hours.
Hamas responded with a list of 10 hostages it offered to release on Wednesday and added it was also prepared to discuss releasing Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers also being held.
But that concession may be because the militant group does not know where many of the remaining women and children taken hostage on October 7 have ended up.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has previously claimed to be holding 25 to 40 hostages but they are not part of the ceasefire negotiations.
One of the youngest hostages, 10-month-old baby Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel along with their parents were allegedly kidnapped by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and are possibly being held in Khan Younis, in Gaza’s south.
“We are experiencing moments of great uncertainty. The realisation that we will not get the hug we wished for leaves us speechless,” their family said.
The children with their distinctive red hair being carried by mum Shiri being snatched at gunpoint was a defining image of October 7.
REMAINING HOSTAGES MAY BE IN TUNNELS
Some of the other more than 180 hostages are believed to have been held in tunnels in the north Gaza and were suspected of still being there or moved to the south in recent days among the thousands of Palestinian civilians now refugees fleeing the conflict.
Suspicions had already led to warnings disseminated in Khan Younis that anyone holding hostages would be swiftly dealt with.
The IDF has also made clear it was on Hamas to rally other jihadists to account for the missing hostages amid warning come the end of the ceasefire, the whole of Gaza including the largely untouched south would be entered by tanks and troops.
GAZA AID NOT ENOUGH: UN
Given the high concentration of refugees – 1.7 million Palestinian civilians in UN shelters alone – the risk of further bloodshed has prompted urgent international lobbying of both sides, notably from the US White House.
The ceasefire extension has meant a relay convoy of hundreds of aid trucks have continued to roll into Gaza to stave off what the UN has branded the emergence of a humanitarian crisis. More than 2000 trucks have already made the journey into Gaza but with up to 2 million displaced Gazans, the UN said it was not nearly enough.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant meanwhile said there would be war “for at least two more months” with a new “intensity” of fighting once the ceasefire extensions were over. He said the temporary respite would be followed by an all out assault on Gaza.
With already 15,000 Palestinian deaths the Palestinian Authority has appealed for a permanent truce.
MUSK VISITS NETANYAHU
Meanwhile, the world’s richest man Elon Musk joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in visiting a kibbutz hit by Hamas last month.
The owner of the X social media site, formerly known as Twitter, has been criticised for apparently endorsing a post claiming Jewish people were stoking hatred, for which he was branded anti-Semitic.
Musk said it was “jarring” to see some of the scenes as he was told he and X had a global responsibility to combat anti-Semitism.
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