Hamas said the hostages could be released within an hour Ronen Zvulun/Portal
A senior Hamas official told NBC News journalist Richard Engel that the group was ready to immediately release all civilian hostages foreign and Israeli if Israel stopped its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas official said the hostages could be released within an hour as long as Israel complies with its conditions. He claims there is currently no safe place where the hostages can be released.
In return for the release of the Israeli soldiers held hostage, the Hamas official said that Israel must release all Palestinians held in the country’s prisons.
The Hamas official also said that the United States and Israel already know their conditions for the release of civilian hostages, as the militant group disclosed them in its talks with the leaders of several Arab countries.
Attacks on Gaza
The United Nations already confirmed on Tuesday (17) that Israel continues to attack the south of the Gaza Strip, in particular the city of Khan Younis and other areas. More than 600,000 Palestinians moved to this part of the enclave following the attacks by the terrorist group Hamas that began on the 7th.
“Intense bombardment by Israeli forces from sea, air and land continued,” said the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA), the main U.N. group operating in Gaza.
Likewise, the company said that the biggest problem currently is the lack of water and warned that “people will start dying.”
The last seawater desalination plant operating in Gaza is out of commission, increasing the risk of dehydration and illness as Palestinians begin drinking water unfit for human consumption.
UNWRA confirmed that this Monday (16), Israel allowed the opening of a single water pipe in the southern Gaza Strip for three hours, giving half of the population of Khan Younis (around 100,000 people) access to this vital resource, “representing the urgent need Situation does not solve “Water Need”.
“In Gaza, 600,000 liters of fuel are needed daily to power water and desalination plants,” UNRWA said.
Meanwhile, Israel maintains a blockade on the entry of any kind of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
View photos from the 11th day of the confrontation between Israel and Hamas
An Israeli Army M109 tank fires a shot near the southern border with the Gaza Strip this Tuesday (17) see the smoke around the vehicle.
The tank on the southern border of the Gaza Strip is part of Israeli weapons stationed in the region. The Israeli army has around 300,000 soldiers ready to advance into areas dominated by the terrorist group Hamas
An Israeli military convoy transports a tank to the northern region of the country, near the border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah terrorists are located
A military helicopter transports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a neighboring country of Israel
Israeli soldiers guard the country’s border with neighboring Lebanon, where Hezbollah terrorists are carrying out rocket attacks
Buildings destroyed in the city of Rafa, south of the Gaza Strip, after an Israeli offensive against Hamas terrorists
Cars burned in the city of Sderot, southern Israel, after the Hamas attack on Saturday (7). This region was one of the main targets of the terrorist group, which killed many people there