Hamas released two women hostages, Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, as a result of mediation by Qatar and Egypt, Hamas Spokesperson Abu Obeida announced, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed, Al Jazeera reported today.
The captives were released for “humanitarian and health reasons,” Abu Obeida said on the group’s Telegram channel.
Lifshitz said that the hostages had been under heavy guard, but that they had been well treated, with doctors checking on their health condition every two or three days. Women’s feminine hygiene was taken care of, and they were fed adequately, reported the Palestinian Information Center.
Hamas captured around 200 people as hostages, including Israelis, Americans and others, during its Al Aqsa Flood attack on Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that all captives detained in Gaza be released unconditionally.
Human rights organizations, international organizations, and the relatives of those detained have all appealed for their immediate release.
As a result of Qatar’s mediation efforts, on Friday Hamas freed two American women, Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie. Spokesperson Abu Obeida asserted that Hamas had also offered to free two additional captives along with the two Americans, but Israeli authorities had rebuffed the offer.
Israel denied the allegation as “mendacious propaganda,” suggesting that Hamas is just trying to rehabilitate its image after the horrific reports of Hamas militants killing Israeli civilians.
As the Israeli military prepares for its pre-announced ground invasion of the already besieged and blockaded Gaza Strip, the families of those taken hostage face difficult choices: some are urging the Israeli government to prioritize freeing the hostages, while others say they understand Israel’s priority of taking down Hamas.
According to a New York Times article, the US is pressuring Israel to postpone a ground attack in order to give the parties more time to negotiate the release of those detained.
Israel has been widely accused of disregarding Palestinian civilian lives in its severe scorched-earth response to Hamas’s attack. The Israeli government cut off access to food, water, fuel, and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents (half of whom are children) while carrying out a relentless campaign of air strikes over the last two weeks that has leveled entire neighborhoods and pushed humanitarian conditions to breaking point.
In the last 13 days of its announced war on Hamas, Israel has bombed the Al Maamadani (Baptist) hospital, Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, 17 mosques including Al-Ansar and Al-Omari, as well as three churches including the historic Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church.
Israel’s bombing campaign has killed over 5,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian authorities.