π¬Amid a dispute with Israel over alleged violations of the ceasefire, Hamas on Saturday released three more Israeli hostages as planned. Before their handoff to the Red Cross, the hostages were paraded before a large crowd in the Gaza Strip.
βRed Cross vehicles on Saturday arrived at the location where Hamas was set to release the hostages. As with previous exchanges, dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters lined up near a stage festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions while music blared from loudspeakers.
Who Are The Hostages?
According to The Associated Pressο·½, Hamas on Saturday released 46-year-old Israeli-Argentinian Iair Horn, 36-year-old Israeli-American Sagui Dekel Chen, and 29-year-old Israeli-Russian Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov.
ꦦThe trio were abducted from a kibbutz in southern Israel that was ravaged during the October 7, 2023 attack. The hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip were freed on Saturday as part of a shaky ceasefire deal that requires Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Israel-Hamas Dispute Amid Ceasefire
π΄As per reports, Hamas earlier threatened to delay the next release of captives, accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow in tents and shelters. Responding to the threat, Israel, with the support of US President Donald Trump, said it would resume fighting if the hostages were not freed.
πΆHamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar's prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble β its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to βremove all hurdles.β
βShortly after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that three hostages will be released on Saturday.
Future Of The Truce
κ¦The truce faces a much bigger challenge in the coming weeks. The first phase is set to conclude at the beginning of March, and there have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.
πTrump's proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them in other countries has thrown the truce's future into further doubt as the US President repeated his pledge to 'take over' Gaza in order to rebuild it by displacing the Gazans. Accepting the proposal, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent interview stated that he is also ready to "do the job" claiming that Trump may not send troops for the displacing of Gazans.
πIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of implementing Trump's plan and annihilating Hamas, which remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
ο·½The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting 251 people. More than half have been released in deals with Hamas or other agreements, eight have been rescued and dozens of bodies have been recovered.
(With AP inputs)
