Red Cross begins process to receive captives: Reports
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started the process of receiving the three captives held in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Channel 12 reports.
Separately, an official involved in the operation told Reuters that the ICRC team in Gaza is on the way to collect the captives.
According to reports, the Red Cross is expected to take the women to a special army unit in Gaza. From there, they are to be taken to a military facility in Israel near Gaza for initial health examinations before they are taken to a hospital, where they will meet their families.
‘Nobody will be left behind’
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged Israelis to gather in Tel Aviv before the expected release of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher from Gaza.
“Crowds of Israelis will come to be together at Hostages Square to support the families of the hostages and to watch the historic and emotional moments that will be projected on the giant screen,” the group said in a statement.
“Now more than ever we need the people of Israel with us until the last hostage. Nobody will be left behind.”
How many captives does Hamas still have?
About 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas’s-led in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. About 100 captives still remain in Gaza after the rest were released or their bodies recovered, although it’s unclear how many of them are alive.
Three women held in Gaza are expected to be released in the coming hours after 471 days in captivity in exchange for 90 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel announced it had retrieved the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war and whose remains have been held since then.
Shifting momentum to block Netanyahu from returning to war: Commentator
Tel Aviv-based political commentator Ori Goldberg says the majority of Israelis “don’t really care about the Palestinians” and see the people of Gaza as having brought the war on themselves.
He told Al Jazeera the ceasefire is likely to last despite contrary comments from Israel’s leadership.
“The official spin is the continuation of the war is not only possible but perhaps imminent. But the official spin is exactly that. I think the shifting momentum will not encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu to return to fighting this war,” he said.
“There are other dangers, other threats. Military action in the West Bank looks more and more on the table. But as far as Gaza is concerned, I think the Israeli public reaction is ‘good riddance.’.
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