Hamas on Monday released 11 more Israeli hostages (nine children and two mothers), including three with ties to New York City.
The Israeli military confirmed that nearly a dozen kidnapping victims had been handed over to the Red Cross and were back in Israel.
The hostages were expected to be released in exchange for 33 Palestinian prisoners from Israel.
The newly freed hostages were identified as Sharon Cunio, 33, and her twins Emma and Yuli, 3; Karina Engel, 51, and her two daughters Mika, 18, and Yuval, 10; Amit Shani, 16 years old; brother and sister Sahar, 16, and Erez Calderón, 12; and brothers Or, 16, and Yigil Yaakov, 12, the Times of Israel reported.
They will undergo medical evaluations and be escorted by Israeli soldiers until they are finally reunited with their families after being trapped in Gaza for seven weeks, the IDF said.
Despite White House optimism that two American women could be included in the latest group of hostages freed from Gaza, officials confirmed that no one with American citizenship was freed on Monday.
“We do not believe there are Americans in this group who will come out today,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.
Hostages Sharon Aloni-Cunio, 34, Emma Cunio, 3, and Yuli Cunio, 3, were among the freed hostages. Via REUTERS
The representative said the White House still expects the women to be among those released in the coming days, after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was extended until Wednesday.
“We’re working on this, literally for hours,” Kirby said.
Among the hostages released on Monday were three members of the Cunio family, who were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Oz on October 7. Sharon’s husband David, 34, was also kidnapped and remains in Hamas custody in Gaza.
The family had been hosting relatives – Danielle Aloni, 44, and her five-year-old daughter Amelia – when Hamas broke into their home and kidnapped the family. Aloni and Amelia were among the first group released by Hamas on Friday.
Alana Zeitchik, a relative from New York City, called the release of Sharon and her children the family’s “second miracle.”
“Sharon and our babies Emma and Yuli are on their way home. Seeing how they get them out of there is an indescribable feeling,” Zeitchik wrote on Instagram. “Little by little our hearts are recovering. However, David and his brother Ariel are still in captivity, so we still need our third miracle.”
Zeitchik had created the “Bring Our Family Home” Instagram account to plead with the Biden administration to help negotiate freedom for his loved ones.
Hostage Roni Kirboy (right) was among the group of 17 people released on Sunday. via REUTERS Yuli Cunio, 3, and Emma Cunio, 3, who were freed after being taken hostage. via REUTERS Sahar Kalderon, 16, who was freed after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack. via REUTERS O Jacob, 16, was a hostage. via REUTERS Erez Kalderon, 12, was returned to his family. via REUTERS Another boy, Eitan Yahalomi, 12, was released. via REUTERS Yuval Engel, 11, who was released after being taken hostage. via REUTERS Mika Engel, 18, was taken hostage in October. Via REUTERS
The Calderón brothers have also seen their family ask the United States for help, and their aunt, Abbey Onn of Massachusetts, has pleaded for their safe return since the war began.
Onn said the brothers, along with four other relatives, were taken from Nir Oz on October 7 when relatives received messages about the Hamas invasion.
Amit Shani, 16, who was freed after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. via REUTERS Yagil Jacob, 12, was freed from the hostages. Via REUTERS
“The last time we heard from them on WhatsApp was at noon on [that] on Saturday,” Onn told CBS. “We received messages all morning that Hamas was in the kibbutz, that there was shooting and that they were in their houses, that they had overturned everything in their house and that they feared for their lives.”
Karina Engelbert, 51, was kidnapped by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October, but is now free. Via REUTERS
Onn recently appeared on Fox News to call on Hamas to release all children currently detained in Gaza and for Israel to do everything it can to make that deal possible.
“Children do not participate in war, so if this agreement allows children held hostage… to return home and begin to recover from the trauma, I think it is a step in the right direction,” Onn said.
Hostages Emma Cunio, 3, and Yuli Cunio, 3, who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack on Israel, surrender. via REUTERS Hamas hands over hostages. via REUTERS The young hostages who were taken by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack are returned to Israel. via REUTERS The hostages have been held captive by Hamas for more than 50 days. via REUTERS Armed Hamas terrorists handed over nine children who were taken hostage on October 7. via REUTERS
The temporary pause in fighting has paved the way for the exchange of hostages and prisoners, which has prioritized the release of women and children. Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old American girl, was freed Sunday, the first American citizen to be released during the ceasefire.
If the two American women are freed this week, they would be the fourth and fifth American citizens freed by Hamas since the start of the war.
IDF images revealed the moment the hostages returned to Israeli territory. IDF All 11 were captured during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. IDF The freed hostages will be examined in a hospital before being reunited with their loved ones. The IDF Hamas has released 58 hostages so far, and another 11 were freed on Monday. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock
U.S. officials believe Hamas is also holding several American men hostage in Gaza and they likely will not be included in the current exchanges.
With the ceasefire agreement extended for two more days, Hamas agreed to release a total of at least 20 more hostages, and Israel agreed to release one Palestinian prisoner for each hostage.
As of Sunday, Hamas had freed 58 hostages, including 40 Israeli citizens and 18 foreigners. On the Israeli side, officials have released 117 women and minors from their prisons.
The total of released Palestinian prisoners included 28 women, two teenage girls and 87 teenage men. According to CNN, at least 76 of the prisoners did not know what the charges against them were.
The hostages are being handed over to the Red Cross in southern Gaza. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock
The latest group of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released includes three women and 30 teenagers, Hamas officials said.
Israel currently estimates that Hamas holds around 198 people captive in Gaza, around 20 of them foreign nationals. The estimates could not be independently verified.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn