In a televised address to the nation this Friday, October 10, the Israeli Prime Minister declared that of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, 20 were alive and 28 dead. Of the 48 hostages, 47 were kidnapped during the attacks of October 7, 2023 and one soldier was killed in 2014. The remains of the latter are still in the hands of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Benjamin Netanyahu thus appears to confirm for the first time the death of two hostages on October 7, a Nepalese student and an Israeli soldier, whose death the Israeli authorities had not announced until then.
The Israeli Head of Government also said he hoped his country could celebrate “a day of national joy” on Monday night with the return of all the hostages.
“Two years ago [le 7 octobre 2023] the festival of Simchat Torah [la joie de la Torah, NDLR] It became a day of national mourning. This year, with God’s help, Simchat Torah will become a day of national joy, a joy for the return of all our hostage brothers and sisters,” he said. This year, Simchat Torah begins on Monday night.
Israel publishes list of 250 detainees available to be released in exchange for hostages
Israel published a list of 250 “security detainees” who could be released in exchange for the hostages.
The list of detainees, published on the website of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, does not include any of the main detainees, symbols of the Palestinian armed struggle against Israel, whose names the Islamist movement had transmitted to mediators in the hope of their release.
Thus, the names of Marwan Barghouthi, Ahmad Saadat, Hassan Salamé and Abbas Al-Sayyed, sentenced to life imprisonment for murderous anti-Israel attacks, do not appear on the list.
Release of hostages expected in 72 hours
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect this Friday, causing thousands of displaced people to return home. The Israeli army announced a repositioning of its troops in areas of the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, but warned that several areas remained “extremely dangerous” for civilians.
During this first stage of the withdrawal, the army will continue to control around 53% of the Gaza Strip, Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrosian said Thursday. No later than 72 hours after the ceasefire agreement goes into effect, “all of our hostages, living and deceased, will be released, which brings us to Monday,” he added.
According to a Hamas official, the live hostages will be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, “simultaneously with targeted Israeli withdrawals (from Gaza) and an influx of (more) humanitarian aid.” He did not mention the dead captives.
The ceasefire and the release of the hostages are planned within the framework of an agreement approved on Thursday after four days of indirect negotiations in Egypt between Hamas and Israel through numerous international mediators, including the United States. The agreement is based on a plan announced in late September by US President Donald Trump to end the war.
Source: BFM TV
