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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas handed 2 hostages implicit to the Red Cross successful the confederate Gaza Strip connected Saturday arsenic portion of its ceasefire woody with Israel.
The militants released Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54, successful a highly stage-managed and orderly handover to the Red Cross. Both had been abducted during the Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war.
Another hostage, American-Israeli Keith Siegel, 65, was besides acceptable to beryllium released Saturday and was expected to beryllium handed implicit to the Red Cross successful Gaza City to the north.
The truce, which began Jan. 19, is aimed astatine winding down the deadliest and astir destructive warfare ever fought betwixt Israel and the Hamas militant group.
The fragile woody has held for astir 2 weeks, halting the warring and allowing for accrued assistance to travel into the tiny coastal territory.
A full of 33 Israeli hostages are expected to beryllium freed successful speech for astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the truce’s archetypal six weeks. Israel says it has received accusation from Hamas that 8 of those hostages were either killed successful Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught oregon person died successful captivity
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Red Cross vehicles arrived Saturday successful a determination successful the confederate Gaza metropolis of Khan Younis wherever Hamas is acceptable to merchandise hostages arsenic portion of a fragile statement that has paused warring aft much than 15 months of war.
A full of 3 antheral hostages are acceptable to beryllium released Saturday, expected to hap successful 2 abstracted locations successful the Gaza Strip, successful instrumentality for the merchandise of dozens of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
The hostages to beryllium released, according to Hamas and Israel, are: Yarden Bibas, 35; American-Israeli Keith Siegel, 65; and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54. All were abducted during the Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war.
It volition beryllium the 4th swap of hostages for prisoners since the ceasefire began connected Jan. 19. Fifteen hostages and hundreds of prisoners person already been freed successful that time.
Also connected Saturday, wounded Palestinians are expected to beryllium allowed to permission Gaza for Egypt done the Rafah crossing. It had been the lone exit constituent for Palestinians during the warfare earlier Israel closed it successful May. A European Union civilian ngo was deployed Friday to hole for the reopening of the crossing.
The reopening would people different cardinal measurement successful the archetypal signifier of the ceasefire, which calls for the merchandise of 33 hostages and astir 2,000 prisoners, the instrumentality of Palestinians to bluish Gaza and an summation successful humanitarian assistance to the devastated territory.
The imminent merchandise of Bibas has brought renewed attraction to — and interest for — the destiny of his wife, Shiri, and their 2 young sons. All 4 were captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
A video of their abduction by equipped men showed Shiri swaddling successful a broad her 2 redheaded boys — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months aged astatine the time.
Kfir was the youngest of astir 250 radical taken captive connected Oct. 7, and his plight rapidly came to correspond the helplessness and choler the hostage-taking stirred successful Israel, wherever the Bibas household has go a household name.
Hamas has said Shiri and her sons were killed successful an Israeli airstrike. Israel has not confirmed that, but a subject spokesperson precocious acknowledged superior interest astir their fates.
Yarden Bibas is believed to person been held separately from his family. Photos taken during his abduction appeared to amusement him wounded.
Like Bibas, Kalderon was besides captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His 2 children and ex-wife, Hadas, were besides taken, but they were freed during the 2023 ceasefire.
Keith Siegel, primitively from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, on with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during the 2023 ceasefire and has waged a high-profile run to escaped Keith and different hostages.
The dozens of Palestinian prisoners to beryllium released by Israel connected Saturday see radical serving lengthy and beingness sentences.
More than 100 hostages were released during a weeklong ceasefire successful Nov. 2023. About 80 much hostages are inactive successful Gaza, astatine slightest a 3rd of them believed dead. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that 8 of the 33 to beryllium released successful the archetypal signifier of the ceasefire are dead.
Israel and Hamas are acceptable adjacent week to statesman negotiating a 2nd signifier of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely. The warfare could resume successful aboriginal March if an statement is not reached.
Israel says it is inactive committed to destroying Hamas, adjacent aft the militant radical reasserted its regularisation implicit Gaza wrong hours of the latest ceasefire. A cardinal far-right spouse successful Netanyahu’s conjugation is calling for the warfare to resume aft the ceasefire’s archetypal phase.
Hamas says it won’t merchandise the remaining hostages without an extremity to the warfare and a afloat Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
In the Oct. 7 onslaught that started the war, immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians person been killed successful Israel’s retaliatory aerial and crushed war, implicit fractional of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not accidental however galore of the dormant were militants.
The Israeli subject says it killed implicit 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths connected Hamas due to the fact that its fighters run successful residential neighborhoods.
