The Second Day of the Hamas-Selected Palestinian Warfare: More Israelis, More Palestinians and a Dual Israeli American Citizen
On the second day of a two-day cease-fire extension, at least another 10 Israelis are expected to be freed by Hamas in exchange for at least 30 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Some 160 hostages are still in captivity. Perhaps 100 are Israeli civilians. Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. There are also dual Israeli American citizens — possibly including some soldiers, according to the U.S.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed 13,300 people since the beginning of the conflict. Hospitals are without power. Water, fuel and food are in short supply. In Gaza, the U.N. says more than two million people have been internally displaced.
“In past exchanges, the ratio was much larger — for one Israeli soldier, there were hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,” Telhami said. “Remember that it’s very easy for Israel to arrest Palestinians. They are under occupation. Israel has a military. Any town or village can be raided and any number of people arrested.
The Israelis have reported losing weight during their seven weeks in captivity and say they’ve survived mostly on bread and rice, sleeping on rows of chairs. Some were held underground.
On Sunday, a 4-year-old girl, Abigail Mor Edan, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, was among those set free. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration believes eight or nine more Americans are still being held but the U.S. does not have “solid information on each and every one of them.”
The woman, who was freed on Sunday, was taken to an Israeli hospital from Gaza due to a serious medical condition.
In exchange for 1,000 prisoners, Hamas kidnapped and held an Israeli soldier for more than five years before handing him over.
Speaking on NPR’s Morning Edition, Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland, said, “It’s not known why they arrived at this particular ratio, but it is clear that … Hamas was asking for a lot more.”
The Israeli-Hamas Strip War: Defending the War, Released the Lone Wolfs and Reaching the Gazans
“Most of them are lone wolves,” Harel Chorev, a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, says of those released so far, “people who tried to commit some sort of an attack but did not succeed.”
Cherov believes that Israel and Hamas will want to release higher-profile prisoners in exchange for higher-value hostages.
William Burns, the director of the CIA, will hold discussions with the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, King Khalid al-Faisal, as well as the head of Mossad, David Barnea, in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The meeting in Qatar, a key broker as the temporary cease-fire deal has unfolded, is focused on securing the release of more hostages, and partly about expanding the pause in fighting.
TEL AVIV, Israel — A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire on Wednesday, but mediators in Qatar are trying to extend it for at least another 48 hours to allow for the exchange of more captives and for additional aid to reach embattled Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says it believes that 161 of the original 240 hostages seized by Hamas in last month’s attack on Israeli communities are still being held by the Islamist militant group. Israel says Hamas killed over 1200 people when it took control of the Gaza Strip.
The families of Israeli hostages released by Hamas continue to share stories of their relatives’ captivity, with some relatives speaking to media outlets. The 84-year-old mother of Gideon Heiman didn’t receive needed medical treatment while in Gaza.
Since the temporary truce went into effect on Friday, there has been little air strikes, shelling, or ground skirmishes, but according to the UN office, there was an exchange of fire.
The bulk of aid distribution took place in the south, even with the aid convoy reaching the north. Aid reaching Gaza since the pause is insufficient to meet extensive needs, as cautioned by it.
The Secretary-General called for a full humanitarian ceasefire in order to benefit the people of Gaza, Israel and the wider region.