Israel Further hostage handover in Gaza to Red Cross begins
Hamas has begun releasing more hostages in the Gaza Strip. A live television broadcast showed Ofer Kalderon (54) and Jarden Bibas (35) being handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in Chan Junis in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israel's army announced that the Red Cross had informed them that the two hostages had been handed over. Both will now be taken to the military.
01.02.2025, 07:59
SDA
According to previously published information, Keith Siegel (65) is also to be released today in the city of Gaza.
The men will be released as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. In return, 90 Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons, including nine prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. In addition, according to Israeli media reports, the important Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is to be reopened.
Television footage showed Kalderon and Bibas stepping onto a stage one after the other and waving to those present. Unlike the previous hostage handover, this time there was no large crowd.
After their release, the hostages, who were kidnapped 484 days ago, were first to be taken to an Israeli military camp in southern Israel to meet their families. They will then be taken to hospitals.
The fate of the Bibas family moves the world
The abduction of the Bibas family and their two young boys, one of whom was a baby, caused worldwide horror. The children and their mother, who has both Israeli and German citizenship, are also scheduled for release in the first phase of the agreement. Now the father will be released before them - although women and children are supposed to have priority for release.
Hamas announced a long time ago that the woman and the two boys had been killed in Israeli bombardments. Unlike in other cases, Israel did not confirm their deaths. However, there is great concern about the fate of the three, according to official sources. The world fears for the fate of the three.
79 hostages still in the Gaza Strip
The last hostage release on Thursday was accompanied by chaotic scenes. Footage showed a German-Israeli woman being led through a jostling and screaming crowd by masked and armed Islamists. Many Palestinians also tried to photograph the frightened-looking woman with their cell phones. Following these threatening scenes, Israel urged the states that brokered the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure that this does not happen again. According to Israeli sources, the mediating states promised that the hostages would be handed over safely in future.
Following the release of all three abductees, 79 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, 35 of whom are dead according to Israeli reports. The next hostages are due to be released next weekend.
The ceasefire agreement came into force on January 19. It provides for 33 hostages to be released within six weeks in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase - 15 hostages have already been released over the past two weekends and on Thursday. Hamas recently announced that eight of the 33 hostages were dead. It is unclear exactly who they are.
Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 Israelis hostage in the Gaza Strip during their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack triggered the war in the sealed-off coastal area, where more than 47,400 people have since been killed, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The figure does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
