Hamas And Israel
A mother and daughter freed from Hamas captivity after two weeks of violence in Israel and Gaza
A glimmer of hope emerged in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as two American hostages were released by the Islamist group yesterday. Judith and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Evanston, Illinois, were kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7, when they attacked southern Israel near the Gaza border. They were taken from Nahal Oz kibbutz, where they were visiting relatives and held captive for nearly two weeks.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced that the women were freed and transported to a military base in central Israel, where they were reunited with their families. They were the first hostages to be liberated since the outbreak of violence that has claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and left around 200 others in Hamas custody.
Hamas said that the release was a humanitarian gesture, mediated by Qatar, and a way to challenge the accusations of the US President and his administration, who have denounced Hamas as a terrorist organization. A spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing also said that the release was meant to show the American people and the world that Hamas is not the aggressor in this conflict, but rather a victim of Israeli aggression.
Read Also:
Hamas: We Have Full Control Of Gaza Border – Israeli Military
‘They Are Dead Men’ – Israel Vows To Wipe Palestinian Group
Escalating Tensions: Israeli Emergency Government Formed Amidst Ongoing Conflict
The Israeli army confirmed that most of the hostages were still alive, and vowed to continue its efforts to rescue them. Israel has also pledged to destroy Hamas, which controls Gaza and has launched a relentless campaign of air strikes, siege, and blockade on the coastal enclave. More than 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are facing a humanitarian crisis, as they lack food, fuel, medicine, and other basic necessities.
The UN Secretary-General visited the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Friday and urged both sides to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza as soon as possible. He also called for an immediate ceasefire and a political solution to end the bloodshed.
The Palestinian health ministry reported that at least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed, including hundreds of children, and 13,000 wounded in Gaza since October 7. The UN said that more than a million Palestinians have been displaced by the Israeli bombardment.
Israel has also mobilized tanks and troops near the edge of Gaza for a possible ground invasion. The Palestinian Christian community in Gaza has also suffered from the Israeli attacks, as one of their churches was hit by an Israeli strike overnight. The church had been sheltering hundreds of Christians and Muslims who had fled their homes.
Follow us on Facebook
Israel Rains Rockets In Gaza, As 28 Palestinians killed In Attack
The military action escalation between Hamas and Israel intensified on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday with a rain of rockets launched by the Islamist movement on the Israeli metropolis Tel Aviv and a deluge of fire from the Israeli army on the strip of Gaza.
The international community has called for calm and Muslim countries have expressed outrage at the worst outbreak of violence in years between the ruling Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip and the Hebrew state, sparked by clashes in Jerusalem.
Undercover Israeli Spy Returns To Isreal After 35 Years In US Prison
On the Palestinian side, Israeli attacks carried out with fighter jets and helicopter gunships have left at least 32 dead, including ten children, and at least 220 injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Commanders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second armed group in the Gaza Strip, also perished in the strikes, the groups confirmed.
However, At least 20 people, including nine children and a senior Hamas commander, died Monday evening in strikes attributed to the Israeli army carried out in the Gaza Strip in response to dozens of rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave, after new clashes that left more than 500 injured on the Esplanade des Mosques, the third holy place of Islam named Temple Mount by the Jews, in East Jerusalem.
WorldWarIII: Iran Vows To Attack American Assets, Reveals Them
According to a last assessment of the Israeli army shortly before midnight, more than 150 rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel, of which “dozens” were intercepted by the anti-missile shield “Iron Dome”.
And as the salvos continued into the night, an Israeli Arab died of gunshot wounds on the sidelines of clashes with Israelis in the city of Lod (center), where cars were set on fire, local police said. without epilogue.
This violence coincided with “Jerusalem Day”, which according to the Hebrew calendar marks the capture of the eastern part, populated by Palestinians, of the Holy City by the Israeli army in 1967. And it comes after weeks of tensions in Israel. Jerusalem.
“Terrorist organizations in Gaza have crossed a red line by firing rockets into the Jerusalem region,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the evening.
Turkey Asks Israel To “Stop Attacks” On Palestinians
“Israel will react with force, whoever attacks will pay a heavy price. I tell you, citizens of Israel, the current conflict could last for some time,” added the prime minister, who was holding consultations late in the evening with the heads of the army and the internal secret service, the Shin Beth.
After violent clashes in the morning in Jerusalem, Hamas had issued an ultimatum to Israel demanding that its forces withdraw by 6 p.m. from the Mosque esplanade, a hotbed of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis in the heart of the Old City. city.
Follow us on Facebook