Rafah border as part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack on Israel, amid a hostage and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel. Red Cross vehicles arriving in the Strip (taken from southern Gaza) on November 24, 2023.
Ibrahim Abu Mustafa | Reuters
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that 17 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were released on Sunday, including a 4-year-old Israeli-American. abigail mor edan.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, 14 of them were Israeli citizens and the remaining three were foreigners. The agency published the following list of names of 14 Israeli citizens.
- Abigail Edan, 4 years old
- Alma Abraham, 84 years old
- Aviva Adrian Siegel, 62 years old
- Ron Caliboy, 25 years old
- Hagar Brodets, 40 years old
- Ofri Brodets, 10 years old
- Yuval Brodets, 8 years old
- Urijah Brodets 4 years old
- Chen Goldstein Almog, 48 years old
- Agam Goldstein Almog, 17 years old
- Gal Goldstein Almog, 11 years old
- Tal Goldstein Almog, 8 years old
- Dafna Elikim, 15 years old
- Ella Elikim, 8 years old
Sunday’s release, the third day of a four-day military pause, brings the total number of freed hostages to 41. Under the terms of an agreement between Israel and Hamas, 50 Hamas hostages are scheduled to be released over four days. During the first two days of the temporary ceasefire, 24 hostages were taken. released from Gaza in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners.
Edan is one of three Americans the United States believes will be released during the four-day ceasefire.
Edan, the youngest American hostage, turned 4 years old while in captivity last week. She was orphaned on October 7, the day of a brutal Hamas terrorist attack. In the attack, Hamas kidnapped approximately 240 hostages from Israel and killed an estimated 1,200 people, including Yidan’s parents. The October 7 attack triggered an Israeli counterattack that killed an estimated tens of thousands of people in Gaza.
“She has been released and she is now in Israel,” President Joe Biden said at a press conference Sunday after announcing her third release. “The people who are surrounding Abigail with her love and care and the supportive services she needs, she is going through a terrible trauma.”
“There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail has returned safely,” said Liz Hirsch Naftali and Noah Naftali, Edan’s great-aunt and cousin. “We must continue our efforts. We continue to stand with the families of all hostages still held captive.”
On November 26, 2023, a helicopter transporting hostages released by Hamas arrives at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva after being liberated from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants.
Gil Cohen Mergen | AFP | Getty Images
Biden told reporters that he did not yet have details about Yidan’s health, but that the elderly woman reported “in need of immediate medical assistance” upon her release. Biden said people at the scene provided her with an ambulance escort to take her to her nearest hospital.
Early Sunday morning, U.S. National Security Advisor jake sullivan He expressed cautious optimism about the possibility of Edan’s release, based on the list of names released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Said I received it on Sunday morning.
“I want to be cautious about making any firm statements until we actually see that the person has crossed the border and is safe,” Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “But I would say there is increasing optimism about Abigail.”
Each wave of releases is unstable, so officials are tentative about their hopes for future releases. On Saturday, a second hostage release was delayed for several hours due to a dispute over the delivery of aid to Gaza.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed on CBS’s “Face the Nation” early Sunday that Edan’s name was on the third list of hostages. Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, which were also involved in Israel-Hamas negotiations, have used their relationship with Hamas to help broker hostage deals. The prime minister also expressed his hope that other Americans believed to be detained will be released soon.
“I hope that happens soon from now,” he said.
These updates come as families of hostages wait anxiously to find out if their loved ones are among the groups being released each day. Under the terms of this initial agreement, which was finalized last week, Hamas pledged to release 50 women and children hostages during a four-day suspension in exchange for a number of Israeli Palestinian prisoners.
Orna Neutra and Ronen Neutra are the parents of Omer Neutra, an Israeli-American from Long Island, New York. Neutra served in the Israel Defense Forces and went missing on October 7th.
“The first two releases gave us hope,” Orna said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “While we are cautiously excited that more children and women are expected to be released today, Ms. Omer has not yet been released.”
He said it was a positive sign that women and children were being freed, but there needed to be a sustained push to free all hostages, adding: “The situation will not be over before everyone is freed.” .
The current Israeli-Hamas agreement includes a clause that extends the military suspension if Hamas agrees to release additional hostages beyond the original 50.
“If Hamas is willing to release additional hostages, Israel is willing to provide additional days of cease-fire as part of this agreement,” Sullivan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I showed that,” he said. “The ball is really in Hamas’ court.”
