This Saturday (22), the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas delivered the last six Israeli hostages living as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which entered into force on January 29. The hostages were delivered in three stages, with the Red Cross responsible for transporting them to Israel.
The first two hostages, Talo Shoham and Avera Mengista, were delivered in the passage of Rafah, on the border between Palestinian territory and Egypt, around 5am, Brasília time. The Israeli Armed Forces confirmed their arrival in the country. Then three other hostages, Omer Shem, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert, were delivered to Nusocrat, in the central region of the Gaza Strip, around 7:40 am, also in Brasilia time.
The last Israeli hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, was handed over to the Red Cross just before 10 am Brasilia, the Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) informed.
According to Reuters news agency, Hisham al-Sayed is the last hostage that should still be released in the coming hours. Four of the hostages, Eliya Cohen, Talo Shoham, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert, were captured during the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Already Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengista were in Hamas custody about the Hamas A decade, after entering the Gaza Strip in unaffected circumstances.
In contrast, Israel pledged to free 602 Palestinian prisoners detained in their detention centers. The hostage and prisoners exchange agreement was maintained despite recent tensions that almost compromised the ceasefire. In total, the first phase of the agreement provides for the release of 33 hostages until early March in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinians arrested in Israel.
