The First Handover of Gaza City Hostages to the Red Cross in the Presence of a Second Israeli Attack by Hamas
Four female soldiers who were taken hostage in a southern Israel incursion by Hamas have regained their freedom.
On Saturday morning, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross were handed over to Liri Albag and others, and they were subsequently transferred to an Israeli convoy that would take them to Israel.
The handover to the Red Cross took place on Palestine Square in Gaza City in a Hamas-run military-style ceremony. A group of armed fighters wearing black balaclavas and green headbands were around the square. Spectators clambered on rubble and wrecked vehicles to get a look, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags.
The first handover of hostages last Sunday was characterized by an unruly crowd and the fact that three Israeli civilian women were released.
The four young women, who were in their pajamas when they were taken captive 476 days ago, were paraded in soldiers’ uniforms onto a stage at the head of the square in Gaza City. Some banners have slogans against Israel.
Two hostages held their hands together during a brief appearance. Some smiled and waved, raising their arms and giving a thumbs up in front of the crowd. Israeli television broadcast the proceeding live.
Hamas used the handing over of hostages to the Red Cross for the second time in a week to show that it is still powerful despite the devastating war that it has waged in Gaza for the past 15 months.
The four women released on Saturday were serving as field observers in Unit 414 of the Field Intelligence Battalion when Hamas militants stormed their base on the border with Gaza and set it on fire.
According to the military, 66 soldiers were killed and seven were held hostage at the base on kibbutz Nahal Oz. The three who were not part of Saturday’s handover are Agam Berger, 20, who remains in Hamas’ hands; Cpl. Ori Megidish, who was rescued in a military operation after being missing for more than a year, was one of the people whose body was recovered by Israeli troops in Gaza.
Questions were raised about Israel’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack. Members of the female observer team had warned repeatedly that Hamas fighters appeared to be engaging in maneuvers suggesting that an attempt to infiltrate into Israel was imminent, but the warnings were not taken seriously by male commanders.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman of the Israeli military, said Hamas proved its “cruelty” during Saturday’s handover, which he described as a “cynical ceremony.”
All the soldiers who were kidnapped from a base on the Gaza border arrived to the square in a convoy of SUVs. They were led onto the stage, dressed in military-style fatigues, and made a point of being soldiers instead of civilians.
The handover of four hostages on Saturday was an even more performative stunt than the one last Sunday, when three other female hostages were released.
The Gaza City Center, a Fossil for Zionists and the Confrontation with the Palestinian Regime in the 21st Century
Hamas set up a stage in the center of Gaza City, which was devastated by the Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion. There is a banner in Hebrew that says that Zionism will not win. Hundreds of masked, uniformed fighters and civilians gathered nearby.