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25-11-2023
JERUSALEM/ GAZA CITY/ DOHA: 39 Palestinians and 13 Israelis welcomed home after being released from Israeli prisons and captivity in Gaza, respectively. Ten Thais and one Filipino were also released from Gaza and remain in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says it has received the list of the captives to be released on Saturday, the second day of the four-day deal.
Palestinians in Gaza enjoy another night free from Israeli bombs, although happiness is mixed with the uncertainty of what will come after the truce ends.
More than 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attack stands at 1,200.
The Israeli prime minister, along with the Israeli army, have been clear: bringing back the captives is not the only goal of this war and while it is one they’re going to continue to try to achieve, the total eradication of Hamas is something they’re going to continue fighting for. So, after these four days, we can expect to see more fighting.
While there is joy on both sides, there still is anguish because it is not the end of the war. Israel has vowed that its military operations are going to continue, despite the fact that there is a dire humanitarian situation that has unfolded inside the Gaza Strip.
Ever since news of the deal was announced, the White House has been victory-lap leaking to select journalists who’ve communicated that the deal was the result of around-the-clock negotiations from the White House and these are the points that Biden was hitting in his speech.
There was an expectation that US captives would be in the initial batch of those released. That didn’t happen, and I think, perhaps, that wasn’t the expectation when they started taking those victory laps at least through their anonymous briefings.
(The speech) was boilerplate Biden ‘thoughts and prayers’ and concern about the trauma of Israeli women and children, no mention of Palestinian women and children who’ve been released. No mention of the Palestinian death toll.
In fact, when he was asked about the Palestinian death toll, his response was simply: I’ve encouraged the Israeli prime minister to focus on trying to reduce the number of casualties while he’s attempting to eliminate Hamas, which is a legitimate objective.
So, still giving Israel that green light to continue on once this ceasefire is over.
Most of the Israeli captives released by Hamas on Friday appear to be in good physical health, hospital officials have said.
Schneider Children’s hospital said in a statement that four mothers and four children it received were assessed by doctors to be in good physical condition, according to the Times of Israel.
Five other Israeli captives, all elderly women, were taken to Wolfson Hospital in Holon, according to the Times. Some of those are reported to be “feeble and exhausted” and unlikely to be able to return home tomorrow, according to local media outlet Ynet. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
