Kibbutz Be’eri Accuses Hamas of Breaking Hostage Exchange Deal Terms
Kibbutz Be’eri announced on Saturday night that Hamas had breached the hostage exchange agreement by releasing a child without her mother. As part of the recent Israel-Hamas truce, 13 Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on November 25, including 12 from Kibbutz Be’eri.
The truce, effective since Friday, involves an exchange where Israel will release Palestinian prisoners in return for Israelis held in Gaza. However, Kibbutz Be’eri claims the deal was not fully honored, citing the case of 12-year-old Hila Rotem released without her mother, Raya Rotem, 54, who remains captive.
The kibbutz’s statement highlighted the separation of Hila from her mother and pointed out a similar situation for two other children, Noam and Alma Or, aged 17 and 13, released without their father, Dror. Their mother, Yonat Or, was murdered by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack on the kibbutz and other Israeli communities near the Gaza border.
The truce originally scheduled to last four days includes terms to extend it by an additional day for every 10 additional Israeli hostages released. Since the truce went into effect, Hamas has released 41 hostages, while Israel has freed 78 Palestinian security prisoners.
