Image credit: the guardian
The Red Cross has, on Sunday night, in line with the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, received 14 Israel hostages and three others of a foreign country, whose identities were not known at the time, from Hamas, according to Israeli military officials.
This progress has continued from the earlier four-day ceasefire treaty, on Friday, involving Israel and Hamas exchanging lists of hostages and prisoners.
According to Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, “The truce is proceeding without roadblocks.”
Reporting on the situation of the people in Gaza, Diaa revealed that about “120 humanitarian service trucks crossed from Egypt to Gaza on Sunday including two fuel trucks and two with gas for cooking” to help Alleviate the worsening conditions of the residents since the beginning of the war.
However, due to a little misunderstanding on the part of Israel on Saturday tensions were raised as the second exchange of hostages was delayed for four hours by Hamas, accusing Israel of violating the deal’s agreement.
The truce so far in seven weeks of the outbreak of war in the zones resulted in a brief relief from the previously reported constant bombings between Israel and Hamas, which has claimed hundreds of lives and properties from both areas.
Cementing the deal, later that Friday, Israel complied by handing over 39 Palestinian prisoners where Hamas in return released four Thais and four 13 Israel nationals. And with the significant role of the US , Egypt and Qatar there remains a high hope for the truce extending into this week to record more new breakthroughs in restoring peace within the region.
However, it is not clear, it is believed that Abigail Edan, a four-year old Us citizen, who lost her parents in the Hamas attacks should be among the released hostages on Sunday night.
The treaty reached last week held that Hamas will release at least 50 Israeli hostages, while Israel will free at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow up to 300 trucks of humanitarian aid into the coastal territory.
Assuredly speaking on his promise to bring back hostages, the Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday, said, “We have three goals in this war: to eliminate Hamas, to bring back all our hostages, and to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to the state of Israel again.”
“We are convinced that we have the strength, power, will and determination to achieve all the goals of the war, and that’s what we will do.”
The armistice, as seen by various close sources and observers, is unlikely to continue for a long time enough needed for restoring peace in the region, describing the negotiations as “extremely complex” and having many “moving parts” that may go out of course.
Following the Sunday night release of hostages Usama Shahadah, the father of a 17-year old girl from, Asir Shehade from Qalandiya refugee camp, said his daughter was arrested two weeks ago after she was shot in the leg while moving into the Israeli controlled area with a Hamas flag.
“We are not a political family. She doesn’t know Hamas from hummus. She’s just a headstrong teenager. We are hoping her name will be put on the list. Today, tomorrow, the next day, we just want to see her home,” he said.
The ceasefire deal, according to the United Nations, had enable easy delivery of food, medicine, and water to the largest number of people within the affected areas since the war outbreak.
