Palestinian militant group Hamas recently released two more woman hostages. The information in this regard has been provided by the Hamas and ICRC(International Committee of the Red Cross). Hamas also said that they decided to release the hostage after the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
These two women hostage include the 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper. Their release later was also confirmed by the ICRC, i.e. International Committee of the Red Cross.
A spokesperson of the Hamas Abu Obedida, stated on their social media handle that Capitaive had been released for the “Humanitarian reasons and poor health grounds.”
At the time of the attack on Southern Israel on 7th October, Hamas took more than 200 people as hostages. Israeli authorities claimed that more than 1400 people had been killed by Hamas so far in this conflict.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, has demanded the unconditional release of all the hostages in the custody of Hamas. Moreover, Human Rights groups, the International Organisation and the Families members of the hostages are also demanding the immediate release of the hostages on humanitarian grounds.
Last week , Hamas released two American women hostage, namely, Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, after the effort of Qatar. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that their release came after the continued communication between all the involved parties.
While speaking specifically, a Hamas spokesperson alleged that Israel refused to receive back two hostages who were offered to be free by the Hamas group. On the contrary, Israel rejected this claim of Hamas as “mendacious propaganda.”
As Israel is planning to launch a ground invasion, the families of hostages and kidnapped people are facing a painful dilemma. It is to be specifically added that the USA is pressing the Israeli government to delay the Ground invasion to secure the safe release of the hostages.
According to the Palestinian authorities, more than five thousand people have been killed in the war so far. Many international Organisations raised concern over the death of unarmed civilians, including children, in the Gaza Strip.