TEL AVIV, Feb 16: Palestinian groups continue to hold 73 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, “alive and dead,” Dmitri Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said.
“There are still 73 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip – alive and dead. The State of Israel has a moral and ethical obligation to do everything possible to bring home every single one of them, to the last one,” Gendelman said on Telegram.
According to the adviser, 14 civilian hostages and five female soldiers were released from the Gaza Strip as part of the first stage of the agreement with Palestinian movement Hamas, which began on January 19. In addition, five Thai citizens were released unscheduled during one of the exchanges.
Gendelman noted that Israel expected another 14 hostages to return during the first stage, which was scheduled to last until the end of February. It is known that about half of the 73 hostages in Gaza are no longer alive.
Earlier on Saturday, Russian and Israeli citizen Alexander Trufanov and another two Israeli hostages were released after 500 days in Hamas captivity as part of a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov welcomed the release of the hostages and said that the issue of Trufanov’s release from captivity in the Gaza Strip was a priority for Russian diplomats, who had done everything necessary to ensure that this citizen was included in the list of those released in the first stage of the deal.
Since January 19, Israel and Hamas have been implementing the second deal on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Six exchanges have already taken place. In exchange for three hostages, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including those serving life sentences for terrorism. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli jails since the first phase of the deal began.
(UNI )
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