Red Cross vehicles carry hostages in Gaza
A senior official in the Red Cross said on Sunday that he was not confident that Israeli hostages would be freed on Sunday, as stipulated in the agreement negotiated by Qatar and the United States. He said that no Palestinian prisoners would be freed as well if that were the case. In a statement, the ICRC said there was no indication of a delay and that preparations to receive the hostages were continuing.
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Speaking from Gaza, Pascal Hundt, Senior Crisis Manager at the International Committee of the Red Cross said that despite concerns, the Red Cross teams were on standby.
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Red Cross vehicle carrying released hostages arrives at Rafah
(Photo: Belal Al Sabbagh / AFPTV / AFP)
"I don't know if we will see, but I really do hope that everything goes without any problems as we saw during the last two operations," he said, adding it was important for the Israeli hostages and the Palestinian prisoners to be reunited with their families. He said the situation in Gaza was "so desperate" that the truce needs to remain in place.
On Saturday, the release of five women and eight children held by Hamas was delayed several hours over claims by the terror group that Israel was in violation of the agreement. Hamas said the prisoners being released from Israeli jails were not those promised to the group and that aid trucks were not being allowed into all of Gaza.
After 10 hours and efforts by Qatar and Egypt, the hostages were released and after additional hours had passed, Hamas released the names of those scheduled to be released on Sunday.