Hamas may soon release about 50 hostages

The radical Hamas group may today release about 50 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip. We are talking about non-citizens of Israel and people with dual citizenship, reports the Israeli channel i24News. According to the journalists, negotiations are proceeding with the mediation of Qatar, and Red Cross vehicles have already left for the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, where, presumably, the transfer of the kidnapped can take place.

Since the second half of Monday, Israel has suspended shelling of the Gaza Strip – possibly for the safe transfer of prisoners. According to Haaretz, one of the conditions for the release of some of the hostages on the part of Hamas may be the resumption of fuel supplies to Gaza.

In total, Hamas forces, according to the latest data, are holding 222 hostages. Among them are about 30 children aged from 9 months to 16 years. On October 20, Hamas released two hostages – a mother and daughter, who have US citizenship.

In the first half of Monday, the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas militants continued shelling each other’s territory. From the side of Gaza, rocket attacks were carried out on populated areas in the center and south of Israel. Israeli forces are shelling the infrastructure of the militants.

The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reports on the number of civilians killed and wounded: according to the department, after the attack by Hamas on the south of Israel on October 7 and the start of retaliatory strikes by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, 5,087 people were killed and more than 14,000 were wounded. More than 1,400 people have died in Israel since October 7.

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire. Egypt allowed the passage of humanitarian convoys through the Rafah checkpoint. On Monday, the third convoy with water and food arrived in the southern sector. However, the sector still experiences acute shortages of food, water and fuel. Earlier, Egypt and Jordan announced that they would not accept refugees from the Gaza Strip.

After the infiltration of Hamas militants into the territory of southern Israel on October 7 and the brutal murder of more than a thousand civilians, the country’s government announced that it was declaring war on Hamas and would soon launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip to destroy the militants and free the hostages. Civilians were recommended to evacuate to the south, to the border with Egypt.

The world community is divided on this issue. The United States and the European Union call on Israel to postpone the start of the ground operation until the issue of ensuring the safety of the civilian population of the Sector is resolved. On the other hand, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock called on the Israeli authorities to start ground operations as soon as possible.