Three Americans who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last month could be among 50 hostages the Palestinian terrorist group frees as part of a truce deal with Israel, according to a report.
Two women and a 3-year-old girl are among 10 Americans believed to be being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since the group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish nation, senior US officials told CNN.
President Biden said more American hostages are likely to be released as part of the deal announced Tuesday night, without providing an exact number.
“Today’s deal should bring home more American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all freed,” he said in a statement.
The three hostages may soon see freedom, as Hamas agreed to release 50 women and children in exchange for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and Israel’s release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, also all women. and kids.
A sign illuminates a square in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants, November 21, 2023. AFP via Getty Images People He passes by a sign showing photographs of people. kidnapped by Hamas, in the museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 21, 2023. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“We are determined to get everyone home,” a senior administration official told the outlet. “The way the deal is structured greatly incentivizes everyone’s release.”
Relatives of hostage Abigail Mor Idan, 3, said they are praying she will be freed before her birthday on Friday.
“The one thing we’re all clinging to is the hope that now that Abigail is coming home, she’ll be back on Friday,” the little girl’s aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, told CNN Tuesday night. “Friday is her fourth birthday. We need to see Abigail come out of it and then we can believe it.”
An anti-Zionist counter-protester holds a sign against the state of Israel next to an event in support of the state of Israel and against anti-Semitism. Aaron Schwartz – CNP/MEGA The Israel Defense Forces continue to operate in the Gaza Strip to kill terrorists, destroy terrorist infrastructure, and locate weapons stored inside civilian buildings. IDF
Abigail and her older siblings, ages 6 and 10, were orphaned by Hamas terrorists who stormed their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the October 7 attack. Abigail was reportedly in her father’s arms when he and her mother were shot dead by Hamas.
She came out “from under her father’s body…full of his blood” and was then kidnapped by Hamas, Hirsh Naftali told NBC News last week.
His brothers, who witnessed their parents’ murder, escaped unharmed by hiding in a closet for 14 hours, he said.
Relatives of Abigail Mor Idan said they are praying that she will be released before her birthday on Friday. Courtesy of the family
“For our family, we’ve spent the last seven weeks… worrying, wondering, praying, waiting,” Abigail’s aunt told CNN on Tuesday.
In addition to the prisoner exchange, both sides have agreed to pause fighting for at least four days.
The temporary ceasefire would be greatly beneficial for Gaza, where Israel’s relentless airstrikes have reportedly killed more than 11,000 people and made it difficult to get aid in the territory where many Palestinians have no access to food and clean water, electricity or medicines.
Hadas Kalderon, the mother of Israeli hostage Sahar and her husband Ofer Kalderon, cries during a protest calling on the government to sign an agreement with Hamas for the release of hostages outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 21 November. 2023. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Protesters hold signs demanding the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip after they were captured by Hamas gunmen on October 7, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21 November 2023. REUTERS
If Hamas agrees to release more of the 240 Israeli hostages, then the ceasefire could be extended longer, the senior official told CNN.
After the freed American hostages receive necessary medical care, the US State Department will provide consular assistance, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
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