Eight Israeli hostages were released Thursday after Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement to extend their ceasefire just minutes before it was set to expire.
Two teens kidnapped from a Bedouin village in southern Israel — Aisha al-Ziadna, 17, and her brother Bilal, 18 —were first to be let go as part of the seventh round of hostages released.
Hamas also released six other Israeli hostages today, including Mia Schem, 21; Amit Soussana, 40; Ilana Gritzewsky, 30; Nili Margalit, 41; Sapir Cohen, 29; and Shani Goren, 29, as mediators continue to work on deals to further extend the truce, The Times of Israel reports.
Schem, an Israeli-French citizen, was among the dozens of partygoers abducted by Hamas during the Tribe of Nova music festival on Oct. 7.
She was featured in a Hamas video a week later receiving medical care for a wounded arm.
Soussana was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza while hiding in a safe room and suffering from a fever, the Times of Israel reports.
While the cease-fire deal calls for Hamas to release 10 hostages per additional day of peace, the terrorist group said that the two extra Russian-Israeli citizens released on Wednesday actually counted toward today’s quota.
Including the eight hostages freed Thursday, Hamas has freed 105 people over the course of the seven-day truce agreement, with Israel poised to release 207 prisoners in exchange, all women and minors.
The deal negotiated between Israel and Hamas sees three prisoners held be Israel released for every hostage released by Hamas.
Aisha al-Ziadna, 17, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. Courtesy of familyThe al-Ziadna siblings and the four other hostages released Thursday night are en route to Israeli hospitals to be reunited with their families.
The al-Ziadna’s were residents of Rahat, a predominantly Arab Bedouin city just north of Beersheba, and about 18.5 miles from Gaza.
The teens were kidnapped alongside their father Yosef, 49, and their older brother Hamza, 21, while working at Kibbutz Holit’s cowshed.
Yosef and his children were working at the cowshed on Oct. 7 — preparing fodder for the cows and feeding and milking them — when Hamas terrorists entered the kibbutz, their family told Haaretz earlier this month.
Bilal al-Ziadna, 18, was also captured on Oct. 7. Courtesy of familyTheir relatives only learned of the kidnapping from video clips uploaded online by Hamas after they took Bilal and Hamza.
“But we knew that the army had cameras on the road to Gaza, so we asked all the relevant agencies to look at the footage,” Yosef’s brother Ali Al-Ziadna told the outlet.
“They did and spotted them; they brought the footage to our home. It showed all four of them walking – healthy – entering Gaza. You can see them crossing the border fence.”
Yosef al-Ziadna, a father of 18 and grandfather to 20, was taken as a hostage. Courtesy of family
Hamza al-Ziadna, 21, was also captured alongside his family. Courtesy of familyAli says he worries for his brother — who is a father of 18 and grandfather of 20 children — because he has diabetes and may not have access to medication.
He says he hopes the fact that the family is Muslim will hold some power with their abductors.
“Our children are believers, they pray regularly. I hope their captors realize that these are people who deserve mercy, as does the whole group they’re part of. They’re laborers who work for a living. They went there to make a living, not to fight,” Ali said.
The temporary ceasefire deal has now entered its seventh day, as mediators work on extending the truce. REUTERSLt. Col. Wahid al-Huzeil, the head of a nonprofit group that set up a war room to help Bedouin hostages freed, says the fact that Hamas abducted Muslim Israelis makes it clear the war is not religious.
“Hamas wanted to kidnap anybody holding a blue I.D. card,” he told the outlet, referring to the card denoting full Israeli citizenship.
“The fact that Hamas abducted innocent civilians, including women and children, shows that this organization doesn’t represent Islam. It represents only itself. This is a terror group.”
The two teens are expected to be released Thursday. AFP via Getty ImagesIn exchange for the 10 Israeli hostages, the Jewish state will free 30 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday, including eight women and 22 minors, all boys, according to The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
Given the shaky-nature of the cease-fire deal, it remains unclear if Israel and Hamas will be able to negotiate another extension.
Israeli officials have previously stated that the peace will not go further than Sunday.
With Post wires
