This time, everything went according to plan. Seventeen hostages were freed by Hamas on Sunday afternoon, a day after the terror movement nearly ended the truce agreement with Israel. Fourteen of them are Israelis, including nine children and four women. Added to this is Roni Krivoi (25), a Russian-Israeli released as part of a separate deal between Hamas and Moscow. Three Thais were also released. In exchange, 39 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli jails.
Among the hostages freed on Sunday - from seven families - was Abigail Idan (4), an American-Israeli. Her parents were murdered "in front of her" in the Oct. 7 attack, according to the White House. Alva Avraham, 84, was flown by helicopter to an Israeli hospital as soon as she left the Gaza Strip. According to several Israeli media outlets, including Haaretz, his life is in danger.
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This Monday, a new round of releases is planned. The latest? Maybe not. Late Sunday afternoon, a source close to Hamas said the terror movement was ready to extend the truce for "two to four days." However, according to the agreement reached with Israel, ten additional hostages are to be freed per additional day of break.
Joe Biden said he was in favor of it, referring to extending the truce as a "goal." This would allow "more hostages to be released and more humanitarian aid" to be delivered to the Gaza Strip, he said.
'We are in fear'
On the French side, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also called on BFMTV for "a continuation of the truce" so that "other releases, day after day, can take place". No French nationals have been released by Hamas since the first releases on Friday.
Catherine Colonna: "The France considers that there must be a lasting truce" between Israel and Gaza pic.twitter.com/7RuBslxYAe
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) November 26, 2023
However, three French nationals who are minors are likely to be arrested, although no information has been leaked on this subject. They are 12-year-old Erez Kalderon, his 16-year-old sister Sahar and 12-year-old Eitan Yahalomi. "We are hopeful that we will have hostages released" by Tuesday, Colonna said.
"I'm trying to do my best not to lose hope," Tse'era, the cousin of Eitan's father, Ohad, told Le Parisien after seeing that he had not been released on Sunday. Shortly before, Jocelyne, Eitan's grandmother, said she was "not in a state to speak". "We are in fear for Eitan," she said in a simple message.
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Marie-Pascale Radoux, for her part, says she has "an emotional block to be able to move forward". She is the mother of Orión Hernández Radoux, a 32-year-old French-Mexican man. "I suspected that the first to be freed would be children, women, wounded, it's normal," she said. "My greatest wish is that Orion will be part of this first negotiation, but we hope that there will be more in the future," she continues.