Here is what we know about the hostages
Hamas Released the Thousands of Palestinians Its Freed in the Oct. 7 Attack: Human Rights Defenders and Defense Advocates
So far under that cease-fire, Hamas has released more than 80 of around 240 hostages Israel says Hamas seized in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In return, Israel has freed 150 Palestinian prisoners, with more expected to come on Tuesday.
The prisoners that have been released so far have been females or children who had been accused of throwing rocks at troops. Human rights groups have criticized Israel’s frequent detention of minors — often hundreds each year — and its process for holding people in detention for months or more without charges.
Since the beginning of the war, over 120 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. The Gaza health authority said that over a thousand people had been killed in the area in the war, and that many more are still trapped.
“In past exchanges, the ratio was much larger — for one Israeli soldier, there were hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,” Telhami said. “Remember that it’s very easy for Israel to arrest Palestinians. They are under occupation. Israel has a military. It can go into any town or village and arrest any number of people at any given time.”
The Israelis have reported losing weight during their seven weeks in captivity and say they’ve survived mostly on bread and rice, sleeping on rows of chairs. Many were held underground.
On Sunday, a 4-year-old girl, Abigail Mor Edan, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, was among those set free. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration believes eight or nine more Americans are still being held but the U.S. does not have “solid information on each and every one of them.”
An elderly Israeli captive was flown from Gaza to an Israeli hospital due to a serious medical condition, according to Israeli media reports.
In 2006, Hamas abducted an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, to the Gaza Strip, holding him for more than five years before finally handing him over in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners.
It is clear that they arrived at this particular ratio, but it’s not known why.Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland. Hamas was asking for a lot more.
Hundreds of Palestinians are still being released by Hamas, according to Israeli media in Doha, Qatar, and after the Gaza Strip Attack
“Most of them are lone wolves,” Harel Chorev, a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, says of those released so far, “people who tried to commit some sort of an attack but did not succeed.”
Hamas could possibly demand more prisoners or higher-value ones in exchange for hostages as the pool of hostages shrinks.
A US official tells NPR that William Burns was in Doha on Tuesday to meet with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and David Barnea, the Mossad chief.
The meeting in Qatar is focused on securing release of more hostages, and expanding the pause in fighting because of the temporary cease-fire deal.
Meanwhile, Hamas told mediators that they approve of extending the truce for four days, Israeli media reported. Israeli media also has said that a longer cease-fire could be in the works to secure the release of all the hostages and a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says it believes that 161 of the original 240 hostages seized by Hamas in last month’s attack on Israeli communities are still being held by the Islamist militant group. More than one thousand people were dead when Hamas fighters swept out of the Gaza Strip, according to Israel.
The families of Israeli hostages released by Hamas continue to share stories of their relatives’ captivity, with some relatives speaking to media outlets. Gideon Heiman says his 84-year-old mother did not receive necessary medical treatment while being held Gaza.
Organizations of the Gaza Strip Humanitarian Conference: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterrez’s “Temporal” Warfare
Since the temporary truce went into effect on Friday, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said that air strikes, shelling and ground battles have largely ceased.
The pause has allowed Egypt and the Palestinian Red Crescent Societies and U.N. agencies “to enhance the delivery of assistance into and across Gaza.” The UN said there was a Red Crescent aid convoy carrying food, medical supplies, water and non-food items in areas north of the informal dividing line. Israel’s military, which has focused its military campaign on the north, has warned Gazans to move south of the line.
On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for “a full humanitarian ceasefire, for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and the wider region.”
The release of her daughter, Ms. Tamimi, has caused joy among the family, but also threats of violence by settlers and occupation forces who banned any celebrations and fired tear gas to disburse crowds.
“She would be coming back after the death of 17,000 people. You understand? ” Nariman’s wife said that.” My daughter would come back to my lap and there were many mothers who had lost their children.
One of the couple’s sons was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces after being accused of opening fire on Israeli settlers. Israel bulldozed their family home near Ramallah in 2019, according to Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency.
What We Know About the Hostages Released on Wednesday: Ms. Ben-Ami and her sister Gali Tarshansky
Ms. Ben-Ami has had the disease for 13 years. According to family members, her condition is painful but she has kept a positive attitude. She likes making jewelry, macrame and bead work. She recently started volunteering to do arts and crafts with older adults on the kibbutz.
Her medication suppresses the immune system, making her susceptible to infections, and her physicians said that they feared she would not survive in captivity for long.
She was being treated for a serious and rare disease, called neurosarcoidosis, when she was taken hostage.
Gali Tarshansky, 13, was kidnapped alone on Oct. 7 from her home in Be’eri, a kibbutz near the Gazan border. Her brother Lior, 16, who was hiding with her, was murdered, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas that children would be released with their mothers, was violated when Hila was freed from captivity without her mother.
The Tribe of Nova music festival was attacked by terrorists from Hamas on October 7, killing over 1200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. The siblings were taken captive in Gaza after trying to escape together.
Ms. Tarshansky is a volleyball player and an animal lover according to her family. She likes dancing, music, and movies.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum: Here’s What We Know About the Hostages Released Wednesday in Tel Aviv
The mother of a hostage expressed her worry at an event in Tel Aviv, where other family members of the women urged women’s rights groups to push for the release of their loved ones.
“The only thing I am waiting for is the phone call from my daughter, Reuma, who will say, ‘Gali is coming back,’” she said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. “And then I’ll know that it’s really over and I can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Yarden Roman Gat, her husband Alon and their 3-year-old daughter were kidnapped by Hamas in the middle of the night.
Ms. Gat was eventually captured and taken hostage, but her husband and daughter managed to evade the terrorists by hiding under bushes, taking cover for 12 hours, according to The Times of Israel account.
Liat, a dual citizen of the US and Israel, has three adult children and works as a tour guide for youth groups in Jerusalem at the holocaust remembrance center. She likes nature and wildlife in India. Her husband is still in captivity.
According to the hostages and missing families forum Moran StelaYanai was a self-employed artist and jewelry designer who went to sell her handmade jewelry at the nova music festival in Re’im.
Source: Here’s What We Know About the Hostages Released on Wednesday
Erratum: Dror, Yuval, Ofir, and Amit Shani, 15, are kidnapped by Hamas
Ms. Yanai contacted her family while trying to escape by car with a friend after the attack started. Friends who survived told Ms. Yanai’s relatives that, after the telephone call, the group encountered another gang of terrorists. Her friends fled in different directions, losing touch with Ms. Yanai.
Liam Or, the kindergarten teacher in Kibbutz Be’eri, was taken hostage at the home of his uncle. He is a big fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer team.
The cousins and his uncle were taken hostage at the same time. Noam and Alma were released on Saturday. The Or family believes that Dror is being held in Gaza.
Yuval and Ofir are from Jerusalem, and they were kidnapped by Hamas when they were at the same place.
When Hamas terrorists entered the safe room of Amit Shani’s house on Kibbutz Be’eri just after noon on Oct. 7, the 16-year-old tried to resist, his mother, Tal Shani, said in an interview last month.
I said don’t! Don’t! We have only our hands, and they have guns. They are going to shoot you! Ms. Shani recalled. The gunmen ordered Ms. Shani, Amit and his two younger sisters to march down a road. Three people, two Israelis and one Israeli, were ordered into a car.
“I was begging and crying and begging to leave him alone and take me,” Ms. Shani said. She said that one of the kidnappers held his gun to her. Israeli soldiers came and rescued her and her two daughters after they were left behind. The army later confirmed that Amit had been kidnapped.
