After the ceasefire in the Gaza war began, the Islamist Hamas released a second group of hostages, including four German dual nationals. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced this on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Sunday night.
According to their families, the four Germans are a 67-year-old woman, her 38-year-old daughter and her children aged 3 and 8.
The Red Cross brought 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens across the border into Egypt in the evening, the Israeli military said. According to Qatar, eight minors and five women are among the released Israelis.
According to the army, the convoy with the released hostages first drove to the nearby Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom. Security representatives there wanted to check the list of names.
24 hostages were released on Friday: 13 Israelis and 11 foreigners. Among them were four German-Israelis.
It was initially unclear whether dual nationals were among the released Israelis. After an initial medical examination, they will first be flown to hospitals in Israel. They will also meet their families there.
39 Palestinian prisoners should be released
In return, 39 Palestinian prisoners were to be released from Israeli prisons in the evening. According to Hamas, among them are six women and 33 male youths under the age of 19. The prisoners are to be released near their homes in the West Bank or East Jerusalem.
Just a few hours before the hostages were released, Hamas surprisingly stopped a handover at the last minute. The reason given by the terrorist organization was that, in its view, Israel had violated part of the hostage deal. Among other things, she accused Israel of not allowing sufficient aid deliveries to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Israel rejected this and threatened to withdraw from the agreement, which was brokered by Qatar. After Qatar intervened, Hamas gave in late in the evening.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas stipulates that three Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons in return for each hostage taken from Israel. The day before, 39 Palestinian prisoners had already been released.
The ceasefire should last four days
The break in fighting should last at least four days. According to the agreement, a total of 50 hostages are to be released during this time. An extension of the ceasefire to up to ten days is possible, as the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, which is mediating in the conflict, has announced.
The latest Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from the Gaza Strip committed in Israel near the border on October 7th. More than 1,200 people were killed. Around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza, including several Germans.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes, a blockade of the Gaza Strip and began a ground offensive in late October. According to the Islamist Hamas, almost 15,000 people were killed. More than 36,000 were injured. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.
