Before Gaza ceasefire negotiations are taken into consideration, the US insisted that Palestinian militants release 200 additional captives. On Tuesday, two elderly Hamas hostages were evacuated to an Israeli hospital to be reunited with relatives.
According to Israeli sources, on October 7, Hamas militants invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and killed at least 1,400 people, the majority of them were civilians who were shot or set on fire during the first day of the operation.
About 1,500 Hamas fighters, according to Israel, were slain in combat before its troops took back control of the area that was being attacked.
222 persons, including elderly and small children, were also taken captive by the extremists, according to the most recent tally by the Israeli officials. There are scores of foreigners among the hostages as well.
According to the most recent toll from the Hamas health ministry in Gaza, over 5,000 Palestinians—mostly civilians—have died as a result of the Israeli bombardment that has been ongoing throughout the Gaza Strip in reprisal for the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist militant group.
An AFP reporter saw the release of 79-year-old Nurit Cooper and 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz from captivity early on Tuesday at a Tel Aviv medical facility via a military chopper.
Days have passed since the liberation of two other American-citizen women.
Cooper and Lifshitz will receive medical attention and be reunited with their families, according to the prime minister’s office in Israel.
While family members gathered nearby, the women were brought into the facility in a wheelchair and on a stretcher.
Following mediation by Qatar and Egypt, Hamas freed Cooper and Lifshitz on Monday, citing “compelling humanitarian” grounds.
Lifshitz described how he was forced onto a motorcycle and taken to Gaza.
“They loaded me on a motorcycle sideways so I wouldn’t fall, with one terrorist holding me from the front and the other from behind,” she told local media.
“They crossed the border fence into the Gaza Strip, and at first they held me in the town of Abesan, which is near Be’eri. After that, I don’t know where I was taken.”
