A new group of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were to be released Wednesday, hours before the scheduled expiration of a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas.
On the 6th day of the truce, a source close to Hamas announced that Israeli hostages held since October 7 in the Gaza Strip had been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He did not specify their number and Israel did not immediately confirm the releases.
Ten Israeli hostages were to be released on Wednesday in exchange for the release of 30 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, according to the truce agreement negotiated through Qatar, the United States and Egypt.
Hamas earlier announced the release of two female Russian hostages, but outside the framework of the truce agreement. The two ex-hostages arrived in Israel via Egypt.
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from the neighboring Gaza Strip launched an attack in Israel on an unprecedented scale. Around 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians, were killed and around 240 kidnapped according to the authorities.
In retaliation, Israel promised to “annihilate” Hamas, in power since 2007 in Gaza, shelling the Palestinian territory and launching a ground offensive on October 27, until the truce came into force on November 24. According to the Hamas government, 14,854 people, including 6,150 under the age of 18, were killed in Israeli strikes.
The truce agreement also allowed the entry of a larger batch of humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory, devastated by seven weeks of Israeli bombardments. But international organizations believe that this aid is not enough and are calling for a lasting ceasefire in the face of what the UN chief described as a “monumental humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
Entering into force on November 24 for initially four days, the truce was then extended until Thursday 05:00 GMT.
A source close to Hamas indicated on Wednesday that the Islamist movement had “agreed” to extend it for “an additional four days” and to release new Israeli hostages.
But in the evening, a source within Hamas affirmed that the Palestinian movement considered the Israeli proposals for an extension of the truce “unsatisfactory”.
In recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to “release all the hostages” in the hands of Hamas but affirmed that he wanted to “destroy” the Palestinian movement, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
“Horrible Days”
The truce agreement has already enabled the release of a total of at least 60 Israeli hostages, all civilians, and 180 Palestinian detainees. In addition, 23 other hostages, mostly Thais living in Israel, were released outside the framework of this agreement.
Since November 24, Hamas has released around ten women and children every day, compared to the release of three times as many Palestinian prisoners.
On Tuesday, ten Israeli hostages and two Thais were released, as well as 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas said it held the majority of the approximately 240 hostages. The others are in the hands of other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.
Furthermore, the Israeli army said it was “verifying” information on the death of a 10-month-old baby, the youngest of the hostages kidnapped on October 7, his mother and his 4-year-old brother. Hamas’ military wing claimed they were “killed in Gaza in an Israeli bombardment.”
Few direct testimonies have filtered through on the living conditions of the hostages in Gaza. But the grandmother of Eitan Yahalomi, a 12-year-old released Monday, said he was held in solitary confinement for 16 days.
“The days he was alone were horrible,” Esther Yaeli told Israeli news site Walla.
In East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel, Ahmed Salaima, a 14-year-old Palestinian ex-detainee, reunited with his family on Tuesday evening. He is the youngest Palestinian prisoner to have been released since November 24.
“I can never thank God enough for the release of my son,” exclaimed his father, Nayef Salaima.
“Existential threat”
With the aim of extending the truce, the mediating countries are redoubling their efforts Antony Blinken is due to hold talks on Thursday in Israel and the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and where the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, rival of Hamas, is based .
“We would like to see the pause (in the fighting) extended,” Mr. Blinken said in Brussels. This extension “means more hostages returning home, more help.”
Since October 7 in Israel, violence has also flared in the West Bank, separated from the Gaza Strip by Israeli territory. On Wednesday, an eight-year-old child and a 15-year-old teenager were killed by the Israeli army, according to the Palestinian Authority.
Nearly 240 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers since October 7, according to the Palestinian Authority.
“Our people face an existential threat,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told the UN Security Council in New York.
At the same meeting, the head of Chinese diplomacy Wang Yi warned that a resumption of fighting between Israel and Hamas risked causing “a disaster that could engulf the region”.
Despite the “ray of hope” brought by the truce, the inhabitants of Gaza are experiencing “a monumental humanitarian catastrophe”, denounced UN boss Antonio Guterres, calling for a “true humanitarian ceasefire”.
He also called for the release of all hostages in Gaza “immediately and unconditionally”.
“No water, no food”
Already subject to an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007, the small, overpopulated territory was placed under total siege by Israel on October 9.
According to the UN, 1.7 million of its 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war and more than half of the homes have been damaged or destroyed.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians took advantage of the truce to return home to the north of the Gaza Strip, the most devastated part of the territory, ignoring the ban by the Israeli army which took control of several sectors there. .
“We have had no water, no food, no flour for ten days. The situation is hard, very hard,” Achraf Selim, a resident of Gaza, told AFP.
In the city, people carrying cans queue near a cistern to obtain drinking water.
“People arrive here on foot, from far away, around 10, 20 or 30 kilometers, simply to obtain drinking water,” Mohammed Matar, owner of a desalination installation, told AFP.
In the same city, at al-Nasr hospital, five premature babies were discovered dead, said Hamas Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidreh, accusing Israeli soldiers of denying them care. by preventing doctors from approaching them.