MOSCOW, Nov 29 Two Israeli women with Russian citizenship will be released on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip, in addition to 10 Israeli prisoners, whose release was agreed upon, the Israeli TV channel i24 reports on the social network X with reference to the deputy head of the Politburo of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Abu Marzouk.
«As reported, today in addition to the agreed 10 Israeli hostages will be 2 Israeli women with Russian citizenship were released,” the channel said in a statement.
According to the TV channel, Marzouk said that Hamas plans to release two women with Russian citizenship as a sign of gratitude to the Russian President.
It was previously reported that Israel received a list of hostages whom the Palestinian Hamas movement plans to release on Wednesday.< br>On Monday, Hamas and Israel, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, agreed to extend a four-day humanitarian truce by two more days to free more people. Thus, the truce is valid until the morning of November 30. The media wrote that Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel are discussing the possibility of continuing the truce.
Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, with the mediation of Qatar, reached the first large-scale agreement on November 22 since the conflict escalated on October 7: the parties agreed to cease hostilities for four days in order to exchange dozens of hostages and detainees held by each other. The four-day truce began on November 24 at 07.00 local time (08.00 Moscow time) and was extended for two more days on Tuesday.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest government data, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, and it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was stopped.
At the end of October, the ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was actually divided into southern and northern parts.
The number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israeli strikes has exceeded 16 thousand people, and over 35 thousand have been injured. The Russian Embassy reported that during the escalation of the conflict, 20 Russians were killed, two were taken hostage, and seven were listed as missing. According to various sources, about 150 Israelis may be held captive by Hamas. The movement itself stated that there are about 200-250 prisoners in the Gaza Strip.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.