2023-11-30 23:56:00
The terrorist organization Hamas has handed over six more hostages to the Red Cross. A total of eight hostages were released on Thursday. However, it is unclear whether the ceasefire will be extended once more.
The militant Islamist Hamas released a total of eight more hostages on Thursday. Initially, two women were handed over to the Red Cross on Thursday followingnoon. Six more hostages followed in the evening, the Israeli military confirmed. These are six Israelis who were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.
The handover of the six other hostages was delayed because they were being held at various locations in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. It initially remained unclear whether the bodies of three dead hostages were also handed over during the handover. Hamas had previously stated that it was also negotiating with Israel regarding handing over the dead.
A total of 14 Germans were also released
In return, the Israeli prison authority released 30 Palestinians, according to Palestinian information. Palestinian media reported that night that they were welcomed by their families in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Accordingly, there were 8 women and 22 male youths under the age of 19. The spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry had previously spoken regarding 7 women and 23 male youths on the X platform.
According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli government currently suspects that there are still around 140 hostages in the Gaza Strip. However, there are said to be only a few women and children among them. It was therefore questionable how long the current procedure, in which women and children were released in return for an extension of the ceasefire, might continue. Since the ceasefire began last Friday, more than 100 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip have been released, including 14 Israelis with German citizenship. In return, Israel released more than 200 Palestinian prisoners from prison.
Will the ceasefire be extended once more?
It is unclear how long the ceasefire in the war in Israel and the Gaza Strip will last. On Thursday night, shortly before a deadline expired, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the ceasefire by one day until Friday morning.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar tried to extend the agreement once more. The Egyptian State Information Service (SIS) said “there are ongoing Egyptian-Qatari contacts to extend the ceasefire for another two days.” This would allow more prisoners and hostages to be released and more humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip.
“End deals with the devil”
Meanwhile, criticism of the ceasefire is growing in Israel. After an attack at a bus stop in Jerusalem that Hamas claimed responsibility for and in which three people were killed and others injured, Israel’s right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for an end to the ceasefire. “With one hand Hamas signs a ceasefire, and with another hand it sends terrorists to murder Jews in Jerusalem,” the minister wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
“We must end the deals with the devil and immediately return to the fight with great force to achieve the ultimate goal of the war: the complete destruction of Hamas (…).”
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy also spoke out in favor of resuming fighting. He also wrote on X. “If Hamas stops releasing mothers and children, we will resume military pressure to get everyone out of the country – we will not abandon our fathers, brothers and sons to the Hamas monsters.”
Blinken calls for action once morest violent settlers
The release of the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip was also the topic of discussions that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held with President Izchak Herzog during his visit to Israel. Blinken also called on Israel to hold violent settlers in the West Bank accountable. The US State Department said the “tensions in the West Bank” must be de-escalated. To do this, “Israel must take immediate steps to hold settler extremists accountable for violence once morest Palestinian civilians,” it said.
At another meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken emphasized that “it is imperative to address the humanitarian and civilian protection needs in the southern Gaza Strip before conducting military operations there,” according to the US State Department. He emphasized that the US continues to “commit to concrete steps to promote a Palestinian state.”
Björn Dake, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, November 30, 2023 10:00 p.m
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