Published: 24 October 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Hamas has released the first two Israelis. Two US citizens were released on Friday but more than 200 hostages, including 30 children, remain in captivity.
Two Israeli women were released from Hamas captivity on Monday evening, more than two weeks after being kidnapped to Gaza during the October 7 massacres.
They are Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, both of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yocheved was kidnapped along with her husband, Oded Lifshitz (83), while Nurit was kidnapped with her husband, 80-year-old Amiram. Oded and Amiram were not released.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it "facilitated the release of two more hostages by transporting them out of Gaza this evening."
They added that "Our role as a neutral intermediary between the warring parties makes this work possible. We are ready to visit the remaining hostages and to facilitate any future release. We are glad that these persons will be soon reunited with their families and loved ones."
On Friday, two American hostages, mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, were released from Hamas captivity in the first hostage release since the Palestinian terror group took 200 people hostage into Gaza.
Distribution of humanitarian supplies in Gaza began on Sunday but aid officials are still warning of a humanitarian disaster as supplies of food, water and fuel run low.
As of Monday, 34 trucks with supplies had entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing. UN officials say at least 100 trucks a day would be required in Gaza to cover urgent needs. Before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, several hundred trucks had been arriving in the enclave daily.
Israel imposed a total blockade and launched air strikes on Gaza in response to the deadly attack on Israeli soil by Hamas on October 7, when more than 1300 Israelis were killed and more than 200 kidnapped.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on Saturday that work was under way to develop a "light" inspection system, whereby Israel could check the shipments but ensure a sustained flow.
The international spokesperson of the Israel Defence Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, said a ground invasion was inevitable and would "dismantle Hamas totally".
"If Hamas were to come out of their hiding places that they hide underneath the Israeli civilians, which is what they're doing now, return our hostages — all 212 of them — and surrender unconditionally, then the war would end," he said. "If they won't, we will probably have to go in and get it done."
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Photo: Released hostages Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, (left) and Nurit Cooper, 79.
