Hostages and prisoners released
A total of 17 Hamas hostages, including 14 Israelis, were released on Sunday after being held in the Gaza Strip for seven weeks.
Among these, a 4-year-old girl with American nationality, named Abigail, welcomed the American President, Joe Biden. Another ex-hostage, Elma Avraham, an octogenarian Israeli, was airlifted to a hospital in southern Israel, where she is in serious condition, according to the hospital director.
PHOTO FADEL SENNA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Convoy carrying Israeli hostages released by Hamas arriving at a hospital in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv
These releases bring to 58 the total number of hostages released since Friday. Information on their conditions of detention has also started to trickle in. They reportedly slept on plastic chairs, were fed bread and rice, and spent hours waiting for the toilet.
As for Palestinian prisoners, 117 detainees from Israeli prisons were released in total, including 39 on Sunday evening, according to a ratio of one hostage for three prisoners defined by the agreement.
White buses from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took the freed Palestinian prisoners to Ramallah and Beitunia in the occupied West Bank, greeted by crowds waving Palestinian flags, Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Others joined their families in East Jerusalem.
Could the truce continue?
The negotiated truce is expected to end after Monday, but it is not impossible that it could be extended.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in the evening that he had spoken with President Biden, who said on Sunday he hoped that the truce could continue “beyond tomorrow [lundi] “.
France also hopes that the truce in Gaza lasts until the release of “all the hostages”, for her part declared the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna.
A source close to Hamas told Agence France-Presse that the Palestinian movement had “informed the Qatari and Egyptian mediators” that the armed groups holding Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip had “agreed to extend the current truce two to four days.
PHOTO HATEM MOUSSA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Israeli soldier looks out the window of a building along the Salah ad-Din road, used by many to flee to the South.
The agreement provides for the exchange of 50 Hamas hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners during the four days of this truce. Beyond the first four days, the release of “ten additional hostages will lead to an additional day of break,” Israel said.
Humanitarian aid continues to enter Gaza
The truce offered respite to Gazans, but the humanitarian situation in the territory remains “dangerous” and the needs “unprecedented”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday.
The truce agreement also includes the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel into Gaza, where Israel has imposed a total siege since October 9. These cargoes, whose entry from Egypt is subject to the Israeli green light, have been arriving in recent weeks in dribs and drabs. Since Friday, 248 trucks loaded with aid have been able to enter, according to the UN.
PHOTO MAHMUD HAMS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Vehicles carrying humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip
On Sunday, part of the cargoes had to be transported to the north and the city of Gaza, deprived of water and food.
“It’s the third day of truce, they are talking about bringing aid and fuel, but I have been at the gas station for nine hours and it is still closed,” lamented Bilal Diab, interviewed by the AFP in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Damascus airport out of action after Israeli strikes
The airport in Damascus, capital of Syria, was once again the target of Israeli airstrikes which put it out of action on Sunday. These strikes came hours after a resumption of flights following a similar attack last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.
In Yemen, attackers seized and then released an oil tanker linked to Israel off the coast on Sunday, authorities said. Yemen’s government blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, which follows at least two other recent maritime attacks linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas also announced on Sunday the death on an unspecified date, during the Israeli offensive, of five leaders of the movement, including the military commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade, Ahmed al-Ghandour, considered a “terrorist” by the United States since 2017.
With Agence France-Presse