By Tia Goldenberg, TEL
AVIV Israel
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.
Eleven Israeli women and
children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night after more than seven
weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day
truce, which began Friday and was due to run out. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners
released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank
town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made
its way through the streets of Ramallah.
The deal for two additional
days of cease-fire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions,
which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for
2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground
offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.
Israel has said it would
extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.
After the announcement by Qatar — a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United
States and Egypt — Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension “under
the same terms.”
But Israel says it remains
committed to crushing Hamas’ military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule
over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely
mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern
Gaza to the south.
Monday’s releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.
After weeks of national trauma
over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of
the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind
calls to return those who remain in captivity.
“We can get all hostages back
home. We have to keep pushing,” two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American
citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.
Hamas and other militants
could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the
cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers,
and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.
The newly released hostages
included three women and nine children — including 3-year-old twin girls and
their mother — from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit
in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in
captivity, including the father of the twins. The Israeli military said late
Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel
before being reunited with their families.
Most of the hostages freed so
far have appeared to be physically well. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released
Sunday, was airlifted to Israel’s Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening
condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.
Avraham’s daughter, Tali
Amano, said her mother was “hours from death” when she was brought to the
hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said
she told her of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.
Avraham suffered from several
chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she
was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.
So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.
France said three of the
hostages released Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds
and one 16-year-old. The French government is ‘’working tirelessly’’ to free
five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
The Palestinian prisoners
released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and
firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious
offenses. But some were convicted in alleged attempts to carry out stabbings,
bombings and shootings. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in
attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.
The freed hostages have mostly
stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle
out.
Merav Raviv, whose three
relatives were released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost
weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift
bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use
the bathroom, she said.
In Washington, White House
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the
truce.
“We would, of course, hope to
see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to
release hostages,” Kirby told reporters.
More than 13,300 Palestinians
have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and
minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not
differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have
been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.
At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.
The calm from the truce
allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment
that leveled entire neighborhoods.
Footage showed a complex of
several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a
landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every
building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped
over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned
and riddled with holes.
The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gaza’s population from their
homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More
than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has
barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from
returning north.
Rain and wind added to the
hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa
hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a
makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.
Alaa Mansour said the
conditions are simply horrendous.
“My clothes are all wet, and I
am unable to change them.” said Mansour, who is disabled. “I have not drunk
water for two days, and there’s no bathroom to use.”
The U.N. says the truce made
it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to
the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day
is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as
humanitarian needs have soared.
Long lines formed outside
stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for
generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals and
water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work,
the U.N. said.
Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the
urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still
unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that
local authorities weren’t equipped to deal with the level of destruction.
Many say the aid is not nearly
enough.
Amani Taha, a widow and mother
of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned
meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.
She said the crowds have
overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics.
“People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could,” she said.
“They are extremely worried that the war will return.”
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