19 minutes agoHamas and Israel continue to exchange hostages for prisoners
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)The radical Palestinian group Hamas ʹ declared terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union on February 8th has released three Israeli hostages, and Israel is expected to release 183 prisoners it holds in prison. This is the fifth exchange since the entry into force of the fragile truce at the Gaza Strip [...]
The radical Palestinian group Hamas ʹ declared terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union on February 8th has released three Israeli hostages, and Israel is expected to release 183 prisoners it holds in prison.
This is the fifth exchange since the fragile ceasefire entered into force at the Gaza Strip in January.
The decades of Hamas' armed warriors formed a security cord in an area in the town of Deir el-Balah, likely to control the move collected to see hostage release.
In “The pawns station” at Tel Aviv hundreds are expected to gather to welcome the released hostages and there is a large screen that counts days, watches, minutes and seconds since Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when some 1,200 people were killed and abducted about 250 others.
The hostages that have been released are Eli Sharab, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami.
Sharab, 55, was at his house in Barry along with his wife and two daughters when Hamas launched the attack. The bodies of his wife and two daughters were later identified.
Levy was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, when the attackers killed his wife and kidnapped her. Meanwhile, Ben Ami, who has Israel and Germany's citizenship, was in captivity when he turned 56.
Israel and Hamas have conducted four exchanges, when 18 hostages have been released in exchange for some 600 people -- mainly Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli prisons.
The truce, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, is aimed at releasing 33 hostages during the first 42-day phase of the deal.
Negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire are expected to begin Monday, but still no details are known for the talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that after that exchange, an Israeli delegation will leave for Doha for further negotiations on the ceasefire.
The second phase targets the release of more hostages and the opening of the road to permanent end of the war, which began October 7, 2023.
As a result of the Israeli retort, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and the enclave has suffered serious damage. / REL
