A woman with an infant mourns as she identifies a body at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday. (AP)
A woman with an infant mourns as she identifies a body at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday. (AP)
The resumption of heavy Israeli strikes in Gaza immediately cast into question the status of the remaining hostages held there by Hamas and other groups — with fewer than half of the 59 left still thought to be alive, according to the Israeli government.
Of the 251 people seized and taken into Gaza during the attacks on October 7, 2023, 130 or more hostages have been released. The Israeli military has retrieved the bodies of at least 40 others.
In January, Israel and Hamas agreed to a multi-stage truce that would allow for the exchange of Hamas-captured hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel.
The first phase of the ceasefire ended in early March. Hamas released 30 Israeli and foreign hostages and handed over eight bodies, in exchange for the Israeli release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Several hostages had already been rescued or released before the two sides reached the agreement.
The fate of the ceasefire was unclear, though, after Israel resumed heavy strikes into Gaza on Tuesday, citing Hamas’s repeated refusal to release the remaining hostages. Hamas accused Israel early on Tuesday of overturning the ceasefire, “exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate”.
‘Greatest fear’
The main advocacy group for the families of hostages held in Gaza accused the Israeli government of effectively abandoning those still held there with its decision to launch large-scale airstrikes.
The group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has become a prominent voice in the policy debate on the war. It argues that a ceasefire presents the best chance of securing the safe return of the dozens of people who remain in captivity.
It called for a rally in Jerusalem to protest the government’s move.
“The greatest fear of the families, the hostages and the citizens has come true,” the group said in a statement.
New York Times News Service