Palestinian Hamas militant group released two Israeli women on health grounds.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and 79-year-old Nurit Yitzhak, who also goes by the name Nurit Cooper, for humanitarian reasons, in response to mediation by Qatar and Egypt.
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Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the armed wing, said on Telegram, along with footage of the release, “We decided to release them for humanitarian and poor health grounds.”
The video footage showed a man adorned in black and carrying guns giving the women a snack and beverage before walking them over to the Red Cross, where Yocheved Lifshitz shakes one of their hands.
Sharone Lifschitz, the daughter of Yocheved, said: “While I cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, I will remain focused on securing the release of my father and all those – some 200 innocent people – who remain hostage in Gaza.”
The grandson of Yocheved said the family were very emotional and happy for the formal announcement that his grandmother was coming back to them due to a “humanitarian act”.
“And I am very excited as we all are here expecting them and expecting more improvements to all of the captives from our Kibbutz and in general and we just hope that she is OK and in good health, we will go see her now.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages in Gaza.
However, military experts have said that a military rescue operation is highly unlikely to succeed due to the challenging conditions in Gaza, including the urban environment, a significant number of civilians, limited intelligence, and the scattered locations of the hostages.
This situation makes any rescue attempt too risky for both the hostages and the rescuers.
According to a statement from the minister’s office, these two women have been handed over to the Israeli military and are on their way to a medical facility in Israel.
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