According to an official list published by the Israeli government on Friday, those released with German and Israeli citizenship include 34-year-old Doron Katz-Asher and her two young daughters. Baerbock expressed relief that “after 49 days of hell of incredible anxiety, a father can finally safely hug his two little daughters and his wife again.”
In addition, according to Israeli information, 77-year-old Margalit Moses, who also has a German passport, was released. All four were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th during the radical Islamic Hamas attack on Israel. A total of 13 Israeli hostages were released on Friday, while 10 Thai and one Filipino hostage were also released, according to Qatar.
Their release was part of a Qatar-brokered agreement that calls for a four-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. As part of the ceasefire, which began on Friday morning, a total of 50 of the approximately 240 Hamas hostages are to be released. In return, 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons.
“It is now crucial that everyone sticks to the agreements made and that more hostages are released in the next few days,” explained Baerbock. “And it is crucial that the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to the hostages in order to be able to provide them with medical care.” The minister thanked Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdurrahman al-Thani and Egypt for their mediation efforts.
Given the “unimaginable need of the people” in the Gaza Strip, Baerbock called for more humanitarian aid. The ceasefire must last as long as possible in order to provide the people in the Gaza Strip with medicine, food, water and other relief supplies.
