Hamas released two women held hostages for more than two weeks on 23rd October. According to the Palestinian group and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the two elderly women were released through Qatar and Egypt mediation on Monday.
In a statement, a spokesperson, Abu Obeida said on the Telegram channel that the hostages were released for “humanitarian reasons and poor health grounds.” The two released hostages are 79-year-old Nurit Cooper and 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz was confirmed by ICRC.
During an attack on southern Israel on October 7, Hamas captured more than 200 people, including Israelis and dual nationals. According to Israeli authorities, the Palestinian group killed about 1,400 people during the raid, many of them civilians.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has called for the unconditional release of every prisoner detained in Gaza. Families of those detained, international organizations, and human rights groups have all demanded their immediate release.
It was seen that before boarding the ambulance, Yocheved Lifshitz shook the hands of a Hamas member and bid him farewell. Following efforts by Qatar to mediate, Hamas freed two US-citizen women, Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, on Friday, marking the first hostage release since the October 7 incident.
The announcement was made “after many days of continuous communication” with all relevant parties, according to a spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry.
Obeida had earlier reported that Hamas had made an offer last Friday to release two more prisoners in addition to Judith and Natalie, but Israeli authorities had rejected it.
Israel has referred to such assertions as “mendacious propaganda” and implied that Hamas is attempting to enhance its reputation, as horrific accounts of Hamas gunmen murdering Israeli civilians—some of whom used extremely graphic means—are widely denounced.
The families of those abducted and taken prisoner have been faced with difficult decisions as the Israeli military gets ready for what is expected to be a ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip. While some of them want the Israeli government to put freeing hostages first, others acknowledge that attacking Hamas is a top priority.
“We must speak with Hamas.” War is not always the best option. The news organization Reuters was informed by political activist Carmel Gorni, whose cousin Yiftah Gorni was killed in the attack, that “we have so many Palestinian prisoners we can swap for our people.”
“Many people, including the hostages, will die if our soldiers enter.”
The US is reportedly pressuring Israel to postpone a ground invasion so that more time may be spent negotiating the release of individuals who are being held captive, according to a New York Times report.
In response to the attack by Hamas, Israel has been accused of displaying indifference for the lives of Palestinian civilians. It has denied Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants access to food, water, fuel, and electricity while waging an unrelenting campaign of airstrikes that has leveled entire neighborhoods and exacerbated the humanitarian situation.
Palestinian officials claim that the Israeli bombardment has killed over 5,000 Palestinians.