These hostages are free again

Over the past five days, dozens of hostages have been released from the clutches of Hamas. Several Germans are among them. However, most of those kidnapped are still in Gaza. An overview.

Since the ceasefire came into force on Friday, Hamas has handed over a group of hostages to the Red Cross every day, almost exclusively women and children as well as foreign workers. The Islamists abducted around 240 people after the massacres on October 7; so far 84 have been released as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas. The soldier Ori Megidish was already freed by the Israeli army at the end of October. Israel assumes that 151 hostages are still in Gaza.

Most recently, the terrorist group released ten Israeli women and two Thais on Tuesday. This is according to a list of names published by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. One of them, Meirav Tal, has German citizenship as well as Israeli citizenship. Her two sons were released the day before, her husband is still in the Gaza Strip.

As part of this fifth hostage handover, 17-year-old Mia Leimberg from Jerusalem, her mother Gabriela Leimberg and her sister Clara Merman were able to return home. The three women were visiting Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas attacked the village. Merman's partner and her brother are still being held hostage. At 84, Ditza Heiman is the oldest of the people released on Tuesday.

Two German teenagers released

Eleven Israelis were released on Monday, nine children and two women. Among them are the German-Israeli brothers Or (16) and Yagil (12) Yaakov, the sons of Meirav Tal. Sharon Cunio and her three-year-old twin daughters are also free. Her husband Ronen is still being held hostage. Twelve-year-old Eitan Yahalomi has also been free since Monday.

On Sunday, the third day of the ceasefire, Hamas released 17 hostages. In the course of this, the four-year-old US-American Avigail Idan was released. The terrorists had kidnapped the child from the Kibbutz Kfar Aza and murdered her parents. Oriya Brodetz is also four years old and was able to leave the Gaza Strip together with her two siblings and her mother. 25-year-old Ron Krivoy, who was abducted at the music festival that was attacked, is an Israeli and Russian citizen. According to Hamas, he was released following "efforts by President Vladimir Putin". Both Hamas and Russia are allied with Iran and wage their wars with Iranian support.

On Saturday, 13 Israeli women and children were released. This group includes Adi Shojam and her children Naveh (8) and Yahel (3), who are German-Israelis. In addition, nine-year-old Emily Hand was able to return to her father, who had initially assumed that his daughter had been killed by Hamas.

Hostages were handed over to the Red Cross for the first time on Friday and taken out via the Rafah border crossing. There were 24 people: ten Thais, one Filipino and 13 Israelis. Among them were Doron Katz Asher and her children, four-year-old Raz and two-year-old Aviv - who also have German citizenship. 77-year-old Margalit Berta Moses is also German.

At least four hostages dead

According to Israel and Hamas, at least four hostages have died in captivity. A 19-year-old female soldier and two other people have been killed by their captors, according to Israeli officials. An 86-year-old man died after suffering a heart attack, Hamas announced. A total of 30 minors have been released so far, six are still being held by Hamas or other terrorist organizations in Gaza. At least five people over the age of 80 are also still in captivity.

In return, Israel has released 180 imprisoned Palestinians from prisons - that is about three per hostage. The Palestinians are minors and women. The agreement reached by the Israeli government and Hamas was initially designed to last four days, but was then extended by a further two days. It is expected to expire on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, relatives of the hostages are pushing for a further extension.

The ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, fueled by terrorism and hostage taking by groups like Hamas, has resulted in numerous wars and conflicts over the years, significantly impacting both Israelis and Palestinians.
The recent ceasefire has seen Hamas hand over a series of hostages to the Red Cross, including women, children, and foreign workers, with around 151 still believed to be in the Gaza Strip.
Among those released were a group of ten women and two Thais on Tuesday, including Meirav Tal, a German-Israeli citizen whose husband remains captive in Gaza.
The release of hostages has been accompanied by allegations of terrorist actions, such as the murder of Avigail Idan, a four-year-old child kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, adding another tragic chapter to the ongoing Wars and conflicts in the Israel-Gaza Strip.

Source: www.ntv.de