Hamas has released 12 hostages, including 10 Israelis and two foreign nationals, to the Red Cross, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement shared with The Daily Beast. The Red Cross is in the process of transferring them to Israeli territory.
The hostages were first released to Egyptian territory, the IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
The Red Cross has been facilitating their transfer to the borders of Gaza since the first several rescues.
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The hostages released today include Rimon Kirsht, 26, Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter Mia Leimberg, according to statements the Hostage Family Forum shared with The Daily Beast. Clara Merman, 63, Ofelia Roitman, 77, Tamar Metzger, 78, and Ditza Heiman, 84—one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz—have also been released. Sixty-year-old Noralin “Nataly” Babadilla, 75-year-old Ada Sagi, and 53-year-old Meirav Tal are also rescued.
“We have been able to carry out this operation thanks to our neutral intermediary role,” the ICRC said in a statement.
No hostages to be released Tuesday are expected to be American, CNN previously reported.
Abigail Edan, who turned four during her captivity, is the only American released during the ceasefire so far. Nine Americans are believed to still be held hostage in Gaza, the White House said Monday.
The Daily Beast cross-checked a list of Americans taken hostage by Hamas with the names of those who have been released so far and found that two American women—Judith Weinstein and Liat Beinin, both mothers—remain in captivity.
Israel and Hamas have arranged for 20 hostages to be released Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the extension of the truce, according to U.S. officials.
The news comes a day after Israel and Hamas brokered an extension to the ceasefire for two days to arrange for more aid to be delivered to Gaza and for the rescue of more hostages since the Hamas attack on Israel early last month. The ceasefire began on Friday after calls mounted around the world for Israel to stop bombarding Gaza, where it has killed tens of thousands of civilians.
On Monday, Hamas released an additional 11 Israeli hostages, including nine children and two mothers. At the time, that left approximately 173 hostages in Gaza, Israel has said.
Israel is set to release approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire. The next release of prisoners is expected to include 15 women and children, The Guardian reported, citing the Palestinian Prisoners club.
António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, called the extension of the ceasefire “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war.”
The Israeli Defense Forces called the ceasefire into question Tuesday, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire after a series of explosions took place in northern Gaza Tuesday, Fox News reported.
“Three explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in two different locations in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.
Hamas has likewise accused Israel of violating the truce, noting that Hamas fighters responded.
“As a result of a clear violation by the enemy of the truce agreement in the northern Gaza Strip today, field friction occurred and our mujahideen dealt with this violation. We are committed to the truce as long as the enemy has committed to it,” Hamas said on Telegram.
The White House has indicated that it is interested in extending the ceasefire, which President Joe Biden helped to broker, beyond the next two days, according to U.S. officials.
The Biden administration’s top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, is slated to visit Israel, the UAE, and the West Bank later this week, in his third visit to the region since the war broke out. The aims of his trip include extending the ceasefire and arranging for more aid to enter besieged Gaza. CIA Director Bill Burns is currently in Qatar, which has helped arrange the release of hostages in recent days, in order to discuss more rescue missions.
