Author: The New York Times
Published on: 01/02/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Hamas released two more hostages on Saturday as part of its cease-fire deal with Israel. In return, Israel was slated to release about 180 Palestinians from custody. The Israeli military said that the two freed hostages were back in Israeli territory. Israel committed to allowing up to 50 sick and wounded Palestinian fighters to leave through Rafah per day, in addition to Palestinian women and children who need medical care. Israeli government announced that Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon have been released from Hamas captivity. The two are now in the custody of Israeli forces, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Israeli military said it has been formally informed by the Red Cross that two hostages have been handed over to Red Cross officials. Feb. 1, 2025, 1:49 a.m. ET29 minutes ago Men who appear to be Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas — two of the three Israeli hostages expected to be freed today — have been marched through a short ceremony by Hamas fighters on the stage in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Gazans have begun gathering in Khan Younis. Footage from the scene shows Red Cross vehicles amid a heavy presence of Hamas fighters. Some are bearing pictures of Mohammad Deif, the commander killed by Israel last year. Israelis are still anxiously awaiting word of his wife, Shiri. The family of four was among more than 180 residents of kibbutz Nir Oz, a farming community in southern Israel. Since then, the family became the faces of a national trauma that sparked a fierce Israeli war in Gaza aimed at eradicating Hamas. More than 1,750 people in Israel have been killed in the war, about 1,200 of them on the day of the Oct. 7 attack. Video from the Oct. 7 attack on Nir Oz revealed images of militants drilling open the Bibas family’s front door. At 9:45 in the morning, he wrote: “They’re in.” Ms. Bibas-Levy told Kan that the first she learned of her brother’s kidnapping when she saw a video a few days later. Gazans’ Painful Trek Home: Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have lived in tents in the south, barred from returning to northern Gaza. Now, Israel is allowing them to walk back. Trump’s Comments on Gaza raised new questions about United States policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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