Israel Hamas war: the first hostages released

2023-11-24 16:00:00

[Article publié le 24 novembre 2023 à 6h31, mis à jour à 17h]

The first releases of hostages have begun. Two sources close to Hamas said that hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Israeli soil had been handed over in the Gaza Strip to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with a view to their return to Israel. For its part, Thailand also announced that 12 of its nationals held hostage had been released by Hamas.

After weeks of war, the truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into force this Friday morning, for a period of 4 days. The latter should allow the release of around ten women and children hostages held in the Gaza Strip who were to be released “around 4:00 p.m.” (2:00 p.m. GMT), according to the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al -Ansar and which therefore began according to these two sources. « At the moment we do not know (precisely) how many (hostages) we will get “, nevertheless admitted Ziv Agmon.

A key mediator with Egypt and the United States, Qatar obtained an agreement on Wednesday on a renewable four-day truce, coupled with an exchange of 50 hostages held in Gaza for 150 Palestinian detainees. About two hours before the truce took effect, the director general of the Hamas administration’s Health Ministry, Mounir Al-Barsh, told AFP that Israeli soldiers were “conducting a raid in the Indonesian hospital” where 200 patients are still being treated. Questioned by AFP, the Israeli army did not comment on the situation in this hospital but indicated that anti-rocket alarm sirens had sounded in a kibbutz on the edge of the Gaza Strip.

Terms of Agreement

Hamas, for its part, confirmed “ a complete cessation of military activities » for four days. An Egyptian security delegation is present in Jerusalem and Ramallah to ensure “ compliance with the list » of freed Palestinian prisoners.

For their part, Israeli security officials, accompanied by Red Cross personnel and Egyptian agents, were deployed to the “ Egyptian hall » from the Rafah border crossing in order to receive the hostages released from Gaza who will then fly from al-Arish airport to Israel, according to this source. The Israeli authorities must receive the list of hostages to be released the following day the evening before each release.

Israel released a list of 300 Palestinians eligible for release in total, including 33 women and 267 young people under the age of 19. Among these detainees, 49 are members of Hamas.

The international community welcomed the truce agreement, seeing it as a first step towards a possible lasting ceasefire. However, “ we are not stopping the war. We will continue until victory “, affirmed the Israeli chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi.

“Taking control of the northern Gaza Strip is the first step in a long war and we are preparing for the next phases,” said army spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

According to authorities, 1,200 Israeli people, the vast majority civilians, were killed and around 240 people kidnapped on the day of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. In retaliation, Israel, which promised “ to annihilate » Hamas relentlessly bombs the Gaza Strip, where 14,854 people have been killed, including 6,150 children, according to the Hamas government.

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to the UN

The bombings have devastated the Palestinian territory and caused a serious humanitarian crisis according to the UN, including the displacement of around 1.7 million of the 2.4 million inhabitants of Gaza, where aid is trickling in.

The truce will allow the entry of a “ greater number of humanitarian and aid convoys, including fuel » than currently, according to Qatar.

But she remains insufficient » to bring the necessary aid into Gaza, international NGOs stressed, calling for a real ceasefire.

(With AFP)