Shocking footage released tonight shows Israeli hostages giving high-fives to masked Hamas gunmen as they were handed over to the Red Cross during the sixth-and-seemingly-final ceasefire exchange, which is set to end in just a few hours.
The extended-ceasefire deal is set to expire at 7am if Hamas does not send a list of at least 10 women and children they intend to set free.
A young female hostage was seen enthusiastically saying ‘goodbye’ to a masked and armed Hamas gunman, while an older Israeli hostage was seen reaching out to give another gunman a high-five.
She was then seen giving a third gunman a high-five, before climbing into a Red Cross van that took her and the other hostages to Egypt, where they were handed over to the IDF.
The young girl was then seen smiling as she said ‘ma’assalamah’, the Arabic word used as a farewell that directly means ‘Peace be with you.’
The two seen on tape were seeming part of the twelve Israeli and four Thai hostages, who are all on their way back to Israel, released on the sixth day of the precarious and temporary ceasefire truce.
A young female hostage was seen enthusiastically saying ‘goodbye’ to a masked and armed Hamas gunman
Nn older Israeli hostage was seen reaching out to give another gunman a high-five.
The two seen on tape were seeming part of the twelve Israeli and four Thai hostages, who are all on their way back to Israel
The young girl was then seen smiling as she said ‘ma’assalamah’, the Arabic word used as a farewell that directly means ‘Peace be with you’
Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said in a post to X this evening: ‘According to the information provided by the Red Cross, 10 Israeli abductees and abductees and four abductees with Thai citizenship are on their way to Israel.’
The names of the 10 Israeli hostages released within the ceasefire agreement are as follows: Liat Atzili, 49, Yarden Roman Gat, 36, Raz Ben Ami, 57, Raaya Rotem, 54, Liam Or, 18, Ofir Engel, 17, Amit Shani, 16, Gali Tarshanksy, 13, Moran Stela Yanai, 40, and Itai Regev, 18.
Several of the hostages have dual nationality, with a minor hailing from the Netherlands, three adults from Germany and an adult from the US.
Six of the hostages are said to hail from Kibbutz Be’eri, the site of one of the deadliest settlement massacres on October 7, where at least 130 people were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists.
The spokesperson said that 30 Palestinians, made up of 16 children and 14 women, would be freed from Israeli prisons in exchange.
It comes hours after two elderly Israeli hostages were handed back to Israeli forces earlier today in a deal that was negotiated ‘outside the framework of the agreement’, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry.
Gali Tarshanksy, 13, (pictured) is one of the 16 hostages freed tonight
Liam Or (pictured) was taken from his home by Hamas on October 7
Yarden Roman, 36, was freed after over seven weeks as a Hamas hostage
Raaya Rotem (pictured, left) will soon be reunited with her daughter
30 Palestinians, made up of 16 children and 14 women, would be freed from Israeli prisons in exchange.
Yelena Trupanov, 50, and her mother, Irena Tati, 73, (pictured) who both have dual Israel-Russian citizenship, were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ deadly incursion on October 7.
The spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said earlier today that he was ‘hopeful’ that the temporary truce deal can be extended.
Yelena Trupanov, 50, and her mother, Irena Tati, 73, who both have dual Israel-Russian citizenship, were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ deadly incursion on October 7.
Yelena’s son Sasha, and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen, are still in Hamas custody, while her husband, Vitaly, was sadly killed on the day of the deadly attacks.
Four Thai citizens were released alongside Yelena and Irena.
Six of the hostages released within the deal are from Kibbutz Be’eri, according to the Times of Israel.
Members of the settlement were seen jubilantly celebrating hearing the news of their loved ones’ release.
Despite the scenes of joy, the deadline for the renewal of the ceasefire deal is fast approaching.
The IDF said tonight that it would resume fighting if Hamas did not send an official list of the hostages it plans on releasing by 7am.
Israel is said to be demanding at least ten more hostages to be released in order to have to deal extended, on top of the 97 that have so far been released under the extended ceasefire deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv early on Thursday morning, his third trip to the region since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and was set to meet with Israeli leaders to discuss extending the temporary truce and boosting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
‘Looking at the next couple of days, we’ll be focused on … doing what we can to extend the pause so that we continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in,’ Blinken said at a stop in Brussels tonight.
The spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said earlier today that he was ‘hopeful’ that the temporary truce deal can be extended.
‘Qatar remains hopeful that the progress made in recent days can be sustained, and a further extension to the humanitarian pause agreement can be reached,’ he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that the Gaza Strip was in the midst of an ‘epic humanitarian catastrophe,’ and he and others called for a ceasefire to replace the temporary truce.
‘Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong the truce, which we strongly welcome. But we believe we need a true humanitarian ceasefire,’ he told a meeting of the UN Security Council.
China’s foreign ministry said in a position paper on the conflict that the UN Security Council should respond to ‘the general call of the international community that a comprehensive ceasefire be put in place to stop the fighting.’
Two Palestinian officials told Reuters that talks were continuing over a possible extension of the truce, but no agreement had yet been reached.
A Palestinian official said negotiators were hammering out whether Israeli men would be released on different terms than the exchange of three Palestinian detainees for each Israeli hostage that has applied to the women and children.
The ceasefire deal was on Monday extended by two days, hours before the initial agreement was due to end.
The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return.
The deal is understood to have gone down to a wire and seemed on the verge of unravelling. Hamas had accused Israel of failing to keep its side of the bargain and Israel was threatening to resume its lethal onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
But mediators were able to pull it back from the brink, a feat that involved the first ever public visit by Qatari officials to Israel, according to AP.
More to follow.