By Our special Correspondent
New Delhi, November 24: Thirteen Israelis – old women and children — held hostage by Hamas for 49 days finally arrived in Israel, and they first received treatment for eye care for life in the dark tunnel in Gaza. Three Red Cross vehicles have arrived at Israeli Ofer prison to take the handover of the Palestinian prisoners as part of the multi-nation deal involving 1:3 swap ration of the hostages and the wish list of the Hamas.
“Thirteen Israeli hostages have returned to Israeli soil. Ten Thai hostages and 1 Filipino have been returned to Israel as well. Their release was negotiated in a separate deal negotiated between Hamas and their governments, reportedly mediated by Iran or Egypt,” said the Israeli defence force in a post on X.
The statement of the Israeli defence force confirmed that the multi-nation negotiations took place to broker the release of the hostages. Nepali hostage Bipin Joshin was not among the first batch of the hostages released by the Hamas.
Statement from the IDF said, “The hostages are being escorted by IDF and Shin Bet forces and are now in Israeli territory after undergoing an initial assessment of their medical conditions. IDF forces are accompanying the hostages until they reach their families in the hospitals. The IDF salutes and hugs the returning hostages and will continue to work for the return of all the hostages.”
The IDF spokesman called upon the people to “show patience and sensitivity and to respect the privacy of the released hostages and their families”. “We are relieved to confirm the safe release of 24 hostages,” added the IDF in a statement.
The Red Cross in Israel also said that “we have facilitated this release by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah border, marking the real-life impact of our role as a neutral intermediary between the parties”.
According to Israeli television reports the 12 the hostages were given a preliminary eye care for having bee held captive in the dark tunnels for 49 days. The Palestinians were seen jeering at the ambulances carrying the hostages to the Rafah border with Egypt being the intermediary for the transfer of the rescued people.
“Only four children were released. Most of this group is old women. This appears to be another Hamas violation of the agreement that Israel is indulging,” said Noha Pollak, a political analyst, in a post on X.
“Thirteen of our loved ones are back home in Israel and will be reunited with their families. We stand with all of the hostages and their families and will do everything we can to bring all of the hostages home,” said the Israeli government in a statement.
The US has been reported to have worked closely with Qatar while nations with civilians in hostage conditions networked with Iran and Egypt to broker the deal for the hostage and prisoner swap deal between the Hamas and Israel. The four days of ceasefire will facilitate the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
“The scale of the humanitarian needs in Gaza is staggering, and the pause in hostilities will allow aid workers to ramp up the safe delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance. The pause, a direct result of U.S. diplomacy with our partners in the region, will allow the delivery of food, medicine, water, and other vital aid to civilians and facilitate the evacuation of sick, injured, and other vulnerable individuals facing extremely dire conditions,” Israeli daily Haaretz quoted from the US statement on the deal.
The Israeli hostages who were released are — Channa Peri, 79, from Nirim; Margalit Mozes, 78, from Nir Oz; Yaffa Adar, 85, from Nir Oz; Hanna Katzir, 77, from Nir Oz; Danielle Aloni, 44, and her daughter Emilia, 5, from Yavneh; Ruth Mundar, 78, from Nir Oz; Keren Mundar, 54, and her son Ohad, 9, from Nir Oz ; Adina Moshe, 72, from Nir Oz; Doron Katz, 34, and her daughters, 4.5, and Aviv, 2, from Nir Oz.
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