The second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was eventful, with both sides accusing each other of violating a hostage exchange agreement with Palestinian prisoners.
With the deal close to blowing up and Israel threatening that if the next group of hostages from Gaza is not released, the Israeli army will “relaunch ground operations” in the Palestinian enclave.
Ultimately, the deal was saved thanks to the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, and finally, on Saturday evening, 13 Israeli women and children and four Thais were released.
Earlier, Hamas accused Israel of not adhering to its side of the deal
However, Israel has already responded with sources cited by The Times of Israel accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement by releasing a child without his mother.
Hila Rotem, 12, was released tonight, but her mother Raya Rotem, 54, remains a hostage in Gaza.
Hila Rotem Shoshani, only 13 years old, returned home after being held hostage by Hamas. But she returns without her mother, Raya. This contradicts the agreement signed by Hamas not to separate mothers from their children. The promise of terrorists is worthless, you scum pic.twitter.com/uNaB5BDxHp
– Amir Abecasis (@amir_abecasis) November 25, 2023
Israeli sources say that the dispute was among the points left behind during the delay and disagreements earlier today.
The 13 hostages who were released
In particular, according to the Times of Israel, the thirteen Israeli hostages who were released on Saturday are
- Shoham Haram, 67 years old
- Her daughter, Andy Shoham, 38, and her children, Andy Yahel, 3, and Navi, 8.
- Ciri Weiss, 53, and her daughter Noja Weiss, 18.
- Maya Regev, 21 years old
- Hila Rotem, 12 years old
- Emily Hunt, 9 years old
- Noam Orr, 17 years old, and Alma Orr, 13 years old
- Noam Avigdor, 12 years old, and her mother Sharon Avigdor, 52 years old
The Israeli army confirms that 17 hostages who were released crossed into Israeli territory
Israeli hostages released on November 25, 2023: Above LR: Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, siblings Alma and Noam Or; Center: Hila Rotem, Emily Hand, Sherry Weiss and her daughter Noga; Bottom: Uday… pic.twitter.com/U4VBYrW8RP
– Citizen YC (@CitiznYC) November 25, 2023
Hamas accused Israel
Earlier, Hamas accused Israel of not adhering to its side of the deal. Specifically, Hamas representative, Osama Hamdan, held a press conference from Beirut, Lebanon, regarding the delay in the release of hostages from Gaza today.
He said that Israel had not fulfilled its obligations in the agreement and that Hamas had “informed the mediators of the Israeli violations.” For its part, Tel Aviv denied violating the ceasefire agreement.
Hamdan said a total of 340 aid trucks had been sent to Gaza since Friday, but only 65 had arrived in northern Gaza — which he added was less than half of what Israel had agreed to.
He also said he believes the Israelis are “not responding in the right and positive way” since the temporary ceasefire began on Friday.
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