Tel Aviv [Israel], November 29 (ANI): Hamas on Tuesday released 12 more hostages including two foreign nationals on the first day of the extended truce between Israel and Hamas, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The hostages mainly include the elderly and certain family members. Meanwhile, an additional two Thai citizens were released by Hamas on Tuesday.
Moreover, Israel has confirmed the identities of these ten hostages, according to the Jerusalem Post. One of the hostages included Ditza Heiman, an 81-year-old woman who locked herself in the safe room during the Hamas attacks on October 7.
On October 7, as Hamas launched hundreds of rockets towards Israel, Tamar Metzger, 78, along with her husband Yoram, 80, went into their bomb shelter on Kibbutz Nir Oz has also been released today.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Noralin Babadilla Agojo, 60, and her partner, Gidon Babani, were visiting friends in Kibbutz Nirim to celebrate their 70th anniversary when Hamas attacked Israel. Gidan was tragically killed; however, Noralin was abducted by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
Since Friday, over 50 Israeli hostages have been released as part of an initial four-day truce agreement, The Times of Israel reported. According to the initial truce agreement, Israel agreed to halt its military operations in Gaza for four days and emphasised that it would release three Palestinian security prisoners for each of the 50 hostages freed from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
Further, Hamas also released 17 Thais, one Philippines national and one dual Russian-Israeli national. However, on Tuesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the temporary truce by two days, paving the way for the release of some 20 more people held hostage by the terror group. (ANI)
Egypt putting heavy pressure on Yahya Sinwar to release Israeli hostages
Tel Aviv [Israel], November 28 (ANI/TPS): As Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their temporary ceasefire by two days, Egypt has been placing heavy pressure on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“Twice during the ceasefire, the parties got into a crisis when Yahya Sinwar tried to violate the agreements. The first time last Saturday night, Egyptian intelligence officers arrived at the Rafah crossing and conveyed to Sinwar extremely difficult messages and threats peppered with juicy curses,” an Egyptian source with access to official circles in Cairo told the Tazpit Press Service.
“A short hour later, the beating was carried out and the Israeli hostages were released,” he added.
On Sunday, when it became clear to Israel that the list of names of abductees to be released was not as agreed upon, Egypt again pressured Sinwar. Hamas initially sought to release children without their mothers, in violation of the Qatari-brokered temporary ceasefire, not to separate parents and children.
Hamas relented, adding the names of two mothers in place of two children, provided that a fourth prisoner exchange be promoted.
Former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Avi Dichter told TPS several days ago, “Despite the active Qatari involvement, in the end the deals with Hamas are carried out under Egyptian pressure because Sinwar is alert to the economic levers of pressure exerted by Egypt, including through the opening and closing of the Rafah crossing.” Dichter currently serves as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Israel has received from Hamas the list of 10 hostages to be released from Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The list is part of a two-day ceasefire extension agreed to on Monday. The list is being reviewed and families of the captives are being notified, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Israel agreed to release three jailed Palestinian terrorists for each Israeli hostage as part of the deal, which also includes the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel into the Strip. Approximately 175 Israelis and foreigners are still being held in Gaza, including Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was taken hostage by Hamas along with his parents and 4-year-old brother from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Another 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains. (ANI/TPS)
Freed child hostage was tortured by Hamas
Tel Aviv [Israel], November 28 (ANI/TPS): Eitan Yahalomi, age 12, was one of the nine child hostages released from captivity on Monday night. On Tuesday, his aunt, Devora Cohen, revealed that Eitan was tortured while in captivity.
Cohen told a French news outlet that Hamas terrorists forced her nephew to watch harrowing videos of the massacre that they enacted on Israeli civilians during the October 7 attack. She also said that they held a gun to Eitan’s head when he cried.
Also, when Eitan Yahalomi was first taken to Gaza, he was beaten by civilians there.
Yahalomi holds both French and Israeli citizenship. (ANI/TPS)
