- By Anushka Vats
- Mon, 27 Nov 2023 07:43 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
A four-year-old American girl was among the 17 hostages released by Hamas on Day 3 of the truce with Israel. Hamas said it had handed over 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one with Russian citizenship. The hostages were part of a larger group captured when Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on October 7. Hamas also mentioned that it is willing to extend the truce if significant efforts were made to increase the number of Palestinian captives freed by Israel.
As captives are being freed, US President Joe Biden expressed his hope that the ceasefire would continue. He hoped more Americans would be released by Hamas although he did not have firm news. Let's take a look at the top updates:
- After the release of the four-year-old American hostage, Biden said that Abigail Edan had witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas fighters during their October 7 raid into Israel and had been held since then. "What she endured is unthinkable," Biden said at a news conference in the US Abigail was on her way to the hospital for checks, Israel's Channel 13 said.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told the US President that Israel will resume its campaign in Gaza with full force once a temporary truce comes to an end. However, Netanyahu also said he would welcome extending the truce if it facilitated the release of ten additional hostages every day, as agreed under the original Qatari-brokered deal.
- Omar Abdullah Al Hajj, 17, one of the detainees released Sunday, said he'd been kept in the dark about what was happening in the outside world. "I can't believe I'm free now but my joy is incomplete because we still have our brothers who remain in prison, and then there is all the news about Gaza that I am having to learn about now," he told Reuters.
- Tesla Owner Elon Musk will be meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday along with Israelis whose relatives have been held by Hamas in Gaza. The announcement came from Herzog's office on Sunday night. "In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online," said the official statement.
- Musk's visit coincides with a four-day truce in an Israeli war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza during which 40 of the 240 hostages Israel says have been held by Hamas have returned to Israel.
- Hamas freed 17 hostages held in Gaza on Sunday, while Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners on the third day of their truce.
(With inputs from Reuters)
