After Tal Shoham
Hamas hands over 3 more hostages to the Red Cross
Following the release of the Austrian Tal Shoham, the long-term hostage Avera Mengistu (38) and the three young Israelis kidnapped from the Nova Festival, Hamas finally handed over the sixth hostage to the Red Cross on Saturday. In return, 602 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons. Among them 50 with life sentences.
After Tal Shoham (40), the long-term hostage AveraMengistu (39) and the three young Israelis kidnapped from the Nova Festival, Eliya Cohen (27), Omer Wenkert (23) and Omer Shem Tov (22), the second long-term hostage Hisham al-Sayed (36) has also been free since early Saturday afternoon.
Sayed and Mengistu had been held in the Gaza Strip for around ten years. The men, described as mentally ill, had entered the territory in 2015 and 2014 respectively.
Propaganda event for their release
Like Tal and Avera before them, the three young Israelis were forced to take part in a propaganda event staged by Hamas on Saturday before their release.
Pictures of the hostages released on Saturday:
Masked and armed Hamas fighters in uniforms staged the handover once again with a stage, loud music and Palestinian flags. The released hostages had to wave to the audience on a podium and were handed "certificates" of their captivity.
Five of the six men are now in Israel. According to the Israeli military, they will be medically examined there before they meet their relatives.
Chained up while being held hostage
Palestinian terrorists kidnapped Shem-Tov, Wenkert and Cohen from the Nova music festival in the Negev desert. Cohen's partner survived the massacre, according to the Forum of Hostage Families, where she hid under dead bodies. Cohen is said to have been chained up for the entire time he was held hostage, according to Israeli media, citing reports from recently released hostages.
Sayed is an Israeli Arab who crossed the border into the Gaza Strip on his own in 2015. The same applies to Mengistu, who was born in Ethiopia and has been held by Hamas since 2014. Hamas also published footage of the two; in 2022, for example, Sayed was shown in a bed wearing an oxygen mask. This caused horror in Israel.
Release of three hostages brought forward
Hamas released three of the six hostages earlier than planned. According to the ceasefire agreement, three men were originally not to be released until next weekend. The Islamists wanted to ensure that the release of dozens of high-ranking members of the terrorist organization from Israeli prisons did not fail at the last minute, several media reported.
According to the US news site "Axios", there are fears both on the part of the Palestinian terrorist organization and within the Israeli government that the first, six-week phase of the ceasefire might not hold until the beginning of March as agreed - and that important demands would then remain unfulfilled.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire in the Gaza war on January 19, Islamists in the Gaza Strip have released 19 hostages in several rounds so far. In addition, five Thai nationals kidnapped from Israel were released independently of the agreement.
End of the first phase in a week
The multi-stage agreement between Israel and Hamas provides for the gradual release of a total of 33 hostages, including eight dead, in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners during a first six-week phase. According to Hamas, four more bodies are to be handed over next week. This will complete the exchange of hostages for prisoners in the first phase. The first phase of the deal is officially due to end in a week's time.
According to reports, both warring parties have not yet held any serious negotiations on the second phase of the agreement, contrary to what was planned. It is uncertain whether it will come about. It should lead to a final end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages. More than 60 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, around half of whom are no longer alive according to Israeli information.
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