The temporary cease-fire arrangement between Israel and the Hamas terror group in Gaza is now three of four days in, with the potential for extension. To date, 58 hostages have been released from Hamas captivity, 18 of whom are foreign nationals (17 Thai and one Filipino). In total, 50 Israeli civilian captives are set to be released.
In return, Israel has released over 100 convicted Palestinian security prisoners, is facilitating the transfer of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid and fuel into the Gaza Strip, and has stopped all IDF troop movements—including reconnaissance flights over Gaza.
For every additional 10 Israeli hostages released, the cease-fire will be extended 24 hours.
In today’s hostage release, 14 Israelis were brought from Gaza to Israel. Contrary to the previous two days, however, only a handful came through the Rafah crossing, while the rest were collected and transferred more directly to IDF forces in Gaza—indicating they had all been kept in different locations.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
Among the hostages are nine children, five of whom have been left fatherless in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre. One hostage, 4-year-old Avigail Idan, has been left orphaned entirely, after witnessing Hamas terrorists murdering her parents. Her siblings Michael and Amelia survived the attack by hiding in the closet for 14 hours.
The other released hostages include Hagar Brodutch (39) and her three children, Ofry (10), Yuval (8), and Oria (4). Chen Goldstein (48) and her three children Agam (17), Gal (11) and Tal (8) have also returned home. Chen Goldstein’s husband, Nadav Goldstein-Almog, and eldest daughter, Yam (21), were murdered by Hamas in the initial attack.
Dafna (15) and her sister Ella (8) have also been orphaned. They were released today, but they witnessed the murder of their father Noam, his partner, Dekla, and her son Tomer.
Aviva Adrian Siegel (62) was kidnapped with her husband Keith. Aviva was released. Her husband was not.
Elma Avraham (84)—among the oldest of the hostages—was released. But she recently underwent open-heart surgery and is now in intensive care back in Israel.
Finally, Ronnie Kravoi (25) was released. He is a dual Israel-Russian national and was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7 where he worked on the amplification team.
To date, 177 hostages remain in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza, including 10-month-old Kfir Bibas.