In accordance with an extended ceasefire, twelve more hostages were released from Gaza captivity on Tuesday while peace negotiators attempted to bring an end to the seven-week Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Israeli prime minister’s office announced the release of ten Israelis and two Thais. The army claimed the individuals were “inside Israeli territory” and were turned over to the Red Cross.
Afterwards, 30 Palestinian captives were freed as part of the truce agreement, according to Israel’s prison authorities.
In Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, an AFP correspondent witnessed armed and masked fighters—some from Islamic Jihad, others from Hamas—turn over hostages to Red Cross representatives.
The ceasefire and captive releases in the conflict, which was precipitated by the fatal Hamas attacks that led to an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, were praised by international leaders as a sign of optimism.
Tuesday saw accusations of violations of the prolonged cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but Qatari mediators in the dispute insisted that this did not throw the agreement off course.
According to a source briefed on their travel, US and Israeli intelligence officials were in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Tuesday as a two-day extension to the truce looked to be holding. They were there to discuss the “next phase” of the accord.
Nine women and one girl were among the Israelis released on Tuesday, according to Majed Al-Ansari, a spokeswoman for Qatar’s foreign ministry. Among them were two dual nationals from Argentina and one from the Philippines.
International pressure is mounting on Israel and Hamas to refrain from resuming full-scale combat when the most recent ceasefire expires on Thursday.
As per the agreement, the 10 Israelis were released along with the two Thai citizens.
The cease-fire put an end to the violence that broke out on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel, murdering 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and capturing another 240 more.
The Hamas administration in Gaza claims that around 15,000 people have been murdered by Israel’s retaliatory land and air operations, the majority of them were civilians.
Alleged breaches of truce
As Palestinians attempted to return to their homes on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent witnessed an Israeli tank fire three times in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. Palestinian movements also decried what they called “truce violations by the occupier” that day.
According to the Israeli military, a tank fired as suspected terrorists got closer to IDF positions, which is why the firing was called “warning shots”. The AFP reporter saw that at least one person was injured.
Three explosives that went off close to the army’s positions in northern Gaza, it added, “violating the framework of the operational pause”.
Terrorists also fired at the military in one of the places, and the troops returned fire. The army stated that several soldiers suffered minor injuries during the incidents and that its forces were stationed in accordance with the terms of the truce.
“Some minimal breaches” were revealed by Ansari from Qatar, who stated at a press conference that they “did not harm the essence of the agreement”.
Since October 7, Israeli bombing has destroyed structures in Gaza, leaving people to walk amid the debris of their destroyed houses.
Umm Mohammed, who was forced from her home in northern Gaza by the assault, said, “I hope this truce will lead to a complete ceasefire because we are fed up of sleeping outdoors in the rain, of losing our loved ones and having to flee.”
“One day for sure I will return… and I hope that my house will be waiting for me,” she stated to AFP.
“Next stage”
Israel has promised to eliminate Hamas and free every hostage that is still held.
According to army head Herzi Halevi, “the return of the hostages is a bright light for us all,” in a military video.
The recent release of several dozen “is also further evidence of the results of significant military pressure and resolute ground operations, which created the conditions for the return of our civilians home” , Halevi stated.
Ansari declared that Qatar would work toward a “sustainable truce” during the extension.
A person briefed on the visit claimed that the director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the head of the CIA were in Doha to negotiate the truce with the prime minister of Qatar. The source asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the talks.
The talks are intended “to build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal,” according to the source.
The original truce arrangement had seen the release of 150 Palestinian detainees, all of whom were women and youngsters, and 50 Israeli hostages prior to the most recent swaps on Tuesday.
With the start of the truce on Friday, another 19 hostages, including Thai laborers and a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, were released from custody in Gaza under different agreements.
A video featuring 12-year-old French-Israeli Eitan Yahalomi reuniting with his mother, who was holding him closely, was among the captive photographs made public by the Israeli military on Monday.
The Walla news website was informed by his grandmother, Esther Yaeli, that he spent sixteen days in solitary confinement. “Now Eitan appears very withdrawn.”
Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Abu al-Humus, who returned home to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, described his liberation as “an indescribable joy” and kissed his mother’s hand.
“I’m overjoyed. I’m hoping that my cousins and friends may be freed soon as well.”
Demand help for Gaza
Israel says it intends to carry out its military campaign against Hamas and sees the truce as a stopgap measure to achieve the release of hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “We are committed to completing these missions: freeing all of the hostages, eliminating this terrorist organization above and below ground.”
However, Israel is coming under more and more pressure to maintain the ceasefire and provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza, where the UN estimates that 1.7 million people have been forced from their homes.
US President Joe Biden stated on Monday that he had forewarned Israel to steer clear of the kind of widespread civilian displacement that occurred during the military’s onslaught of the northern Gaza region during its anticipated offensive in that region.
121,161 individuals in Gaza have received food deliveries from the World Food Programme since Friday, but there is still a high risk of hunger, the organization said.
“What we see is catastrophic,” declared Corinne Fleischer, the Middle East director of WFP.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, two Palestinian teens were killed in fighting with the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have murdered around 230 Palestinians in the West Bank since the attacks on October 7.
