From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Hamas publishes footage of it handing over 13 hostages to Red Cross inside Gaza City
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A video released by the Hamas terror group this evening shows members of the terror group handing over the 17 hostages — 14 Israelis and three Thai nationals — to the Red Cross, in order for them to be taken to Israel.
The footage shows Hamas gunmen bringing some of the hostages to a square in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood — where the IDF had not reached in its ground offensive — passing crowds of Palestinians on the way.
In a show of force, armed Hamas operatives stand around the vans with 13 of the hostages, before the Red Cross arrives to take them.
Hamas footage shows the handover of the 17 hostages, 14 Israelis and three Thai nationals, to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip this evening. pic.twitter.com/zevkSyh6Kv
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 26, 2023
The clip indicates that Hamas still has significant presence in northern Gaza, in the areas that the IDF did not yet capture during the fighting. It also indicates that some of the hostages are possibly being held in northern Gaza.
Those hostages were handed over to the IDF in northern Gaza, with one being evacuated by helicopter to a hospital and the other 12 taken in a convoy to the Hazterim airbase.
Like previous clips released by Hamas, the terror group members are seen waving at the released hostages, with some waving back. The video has no sound.
The footage also shows Hamas handing a dual Russian-Israeli citizen and separately three Thai nationals to the Red Cross in southern Gaza. Those four were taken to Egypt’s Rafah crossing, and later brought into Israel.
