JERUSALEM. Hamas released a group of 16 hostages late Wednesday, in the latest hostage exchange under the current Gaza truce. The release included 10 Israeli women and children along with four Thai nationals. The freed hostages are now being transported to Israeli hospitals for reunification with their families. Additionally, two Russian-Israeli women were released separately, with Israel set to free 30 Palestinian prisoners in return.
International mediators are working urgently to extend the truce further, allowing for additional exchanges and maintaining the cessation of Israel’s air and ground offensive. Negotiations are becoming more challenging as most women and children held by Hamas are now freed, and the militant group is expected to seek larger releases in exchange for freeing men and soldiers.
As the talks continue, there is mounting international pressure for the ceasefire to persist, given the extensive Israeli bombardment and ground campaign in Gaza over nearly eight weeks. The conflict has resulted in thousands of Palestinian casualties, displaced three-quarters of the population, and led to a severe humanitarian crisis.
Israel, welcoming the recent release of dozens of hostages, commits to maintaining the truce if Hamas continues to free captives. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized on Wednesday that Israel intends to resume its campaign against Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the attack that triggered the ongoing war.
Netanyahu stated, “After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes. There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.”
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
