Conflicts & War

Hostage and cease-fire deal: Hamas releases 11 more Israeli hostages

Jerusalen, Nov 27 (EFE).- In the context of the fourth day of a hostage-prisoner exchange agreement on the sidelines of a temporary ceasefire, the Islamist group Hamas released 11 Israeli hostages and transferred them to Israeli territory, as reported by the Israeli army.

After an initial medical examination, the army will accompany them to “reunite with their families.”

According to the hostage’s families, the 11 freed hostages are residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community bordering the Gaza Strip. They also reported that nine children and two women have been released.

Six of the Israeli hostages are also Argentinian nationals, three of them French and two German, stated the Foreign Ministry.

Based on the agreement with Hamas, Israel is now expected to proceed with the release of a group of 33 Palestinian prisoners (three women and 30 minors).

These releases will complete the first phase of the agreement, which lasted four days and saw the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

The Islamist group has also released at least 19 other people who were not included in the deal, among them 17 Thais, a Filipino and a hostage with dual Russian-Israeli citizenship.

Hamas, Qatar and the United States announced that the pact would be extended for two days, during which the Islamist group would release at least ten hostages a day, shortly before it was due to expire on Friday morning.

On Oct. 7, Israel initiated a conflict with Hamas in response to the Islamist group launching over 4.000 rockets, infiltrating around 3.000 militiamen, causing 1.200 casualties, and kidnapping over 240 people in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

Israeli air, sea and ground forces have since counter-attacked in the Palestinian enclave, where Palestinian officials say more than 15.000 people have been killed, most of them children and women, and more than 7.000 are estimated missing under the rubble.EFE

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