Four Hamas hostages in the Gaza Strip have been released, Israel announced on Saturday, June 8. According to Hamas, the operation to free them left more than 270 dead.
A release between joy and criticism. After the announcement on Saturday, June 8, of the release alive of four Israeli hostages from Hamas, several voices, including that of the Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, were raised to deplore the conditions of their release.
The cause was a “difficult” operation, according to the terms of the Israeli army that carried it out, to free the hostages. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, it left at least 274 dead.
The hostages were released while they were in the Nousseirat refugee camp. Aged 22, 26, 27 and 41, they were all “kidnapped” from the site of the Nova electro music festival, during the unprecedented attack carried out on Israeli soil by Hamas on October 7, which triggered hostilities.
“The bloodshed must stop”
“Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv are free and safe today. We share the relief of their families and call for the release of all remaining hostages,” declared the head of European diplomacy.
However, he later denounced “a terrible massacre of civilians”. “The bloodshed must stop immediately,” he demanded.
“This horror must stop,” insisted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Saying she was “relieved” by the release of the hostages, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, deplored that this was done “at the cost of at least 200 Palestinians, including children, killed and more than 400 wounded”.
“A triumph” for the association of hostage families
The operation led by the Israeli army aimed to show that Israel does not give in “to terrorism”, assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently under pressure in his country and abroad.
The Hostage Families Forum hailed a “miraculous triumph”, urging the government and the international community to obtain the release of the remaining prisoners.
For its part, Hamas also reacted, estimating that “by committing horrible massacres, the enemy was able to free some of its prisoners but at the same time it killed some of them, during the operation”, according to the spokesman for its armed wing Abou Obeida. .
Hostages transferred to hospital
The hostages, according to the army, are “in good health” and have been transferred to a medical center near Tel Aviv.
A video posted on social media shows the emotional reunion between Noa Argamani and her father, as well as Israelis on the beach shouting for joy as a rescuer announced the hostages’ release.
New bombings took place this Sunday in the Gaza Strip. Four members of the same family were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike that hit their home in Al-Darraj, according to doctors at Al-Ahli hospital.
As diplomatic efforts to reach a truce stall, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan in the coming days to “promote a ceasefire proposal” recently presented by President Joe Biden, according to Washington.
This article is originally published on news.dayfr.com
