Hamas Frees Eight Hostages After Truce Deal Extended

Eight Israeli hostages were released from inside Gaza yesterday after a last-minute extension to the truce deal between Israel and Hamas. Israel also freed 30 Palestinian detainees, eight women and 22 children, who were not named.

- TOM BENNETT

Tel Aviv named two of those released by Hamas: 21-year-old Mia Schem, who also holds French citizenship, and 40-year-old Amit Soussana. Four of the eight freed were women aged 29 to 41 including one Mexican-Israeli dual national. The other two were a brother and sister, Belal and Aisha al-Ziadna, aged 18 and 17 respectively, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. They are Bedouin Arab citizens of Israel and among four members of their family taken hostage while they were milking cows on a farm.

Ms Schem appeared in the first hostage video released by Hamas saying that she had been abducted from the Supernova festival during the attack on 7 October. Her father David told Israel’s Channel 12 TV, that when they meet, he will not ask his daughter much. “I don’t want to ask her questions, because I don’t know what she endured.”

The truce between Israel and Hamas started at four days, but has been extended since as long as 10 hostages are released each day. Israel’s army said the Red Cross transferred six hostages to Egypt late yesterday. They arrived hours after two additional hostages were turned over to Israel separately.

The truce also gives residents of Gaza relief from a campaign of airstrikes and ground operations that started in the wake of the Hamas attack, as well as allowing more aid into the besieged territory. A blockade of the strip has accompanied Israel's military operations, leaving essentials like food, water, fuel and medical supplies running low. Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say that around 14,000 people have been killed in the bombardment, with others still buried under the rubble of collapsed homes.