Hamas' armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, has released two U.S. hostages from Gaza - a mother and her daughter - "for humanitarian reasons" in response to Qatari mediation efforts in the war with Israel, its spokesman Abu Ubaida said on Friday.

GAZA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, has released two U.S. hostages from Gaza - a mother and her daughter - “for humanitarian reasons” in response to Qatari mediation efforts in the war with Israel, its spokesman Abu Ubaida said on Friday.

Hamas says it took about 200 hostages during a deadly Oct. 7 rampage carried out from the Gaza Strip on communities and military bases in southern Israel, part of the biggest attack on the country since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Hamas said 50 more are held by other armed groups in the enclave. It said more than 20 hostages have been killed by Israeli air strikes, but has not given any further details.

Abu Ubaida said they released the citizens “for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by (President Joe) Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”

  • @ubermeisters@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12•1 year ago

    But the second they release all of them, the genocide gets real.

    I’m not defending Hamas’s actions at all, they are unquestionably “bad actors” at this point, terrorists even. But, that doesn’t change the fact that there has not been commensurate retribution from Isreal.

    Should they have taken hostages? No.

    Are the hostages currently the best bargaining chip Hamas has, to stop the active ethnic cleansing Isreal has been dying to conduct? Yes.

    There’s nothing us westerners can do or say to truly understand the complexities here, I get that, but for fucks sake can we please stop the killing of women and children? There will be nobody to carry bloodlines at this rate. Undoubtedly the intent.

    • @Number1SummerJam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      I feel like Israel is crossing the line at this point. They have a right to retaliate against Hamas, but they’ve already bombarded half of Gaza, and killed lots of fighters and civilians on top of that. The only reason they’re going to invade is that it’s a very opportune time for them to finally annex the strip of land they’ve had their eyes on for a long time. Both armies are being despicable, and I feel for anyone caught up in this who has nothing to do with the drama.

      • @anteaters@feddit.deEnglish
        5•1 year ago

        This isn’t about killing people for revenge but the destruction of Hamas. That is now the goal and Israel will take every measure it needs to achieve that.

      • @CantSt0pPoppin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0•1 year ago

        Just a reminder it is not antisemitic to denounce the atrocities committed by Israel. Now that is out of the way let’s get “real”.

        Palestinians are living in a bird cage; they were screwed over in 1948 by the British when they were promised the land after that whole Laurance of Arabia thing iirc. The British had a back room deal with the Jews and screwed over the people that were promised the land in the first place. So once again British meddling through colonization destroyed an entire region and created a needless conflict. Now let’s look at today.

        Its been what almost 100 years and the Palestinians are treated like the native Americans were when colonizers pushed them out of the ancestral lands. There are colonizers being allowed to take over people’s homes for “reasons” I have seen countless videos in which IDF intentionally cripples people not to mention assassination of journalists oh and don’t forget they fill water wells with cement making the Palestinians more desperate than ever. Now before I say this, I will say that the loss of noncombatants in any conflict is unacceptable and should be delt with accordingly.

        With everything I said this thought always comes back to me in a torrent. One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter, when you push people into a corner and dehumanize them while calling them human animals for generation these people are going to take help from anyone willing to help even if their intentions are not good. HAMAs comes out of the cruelty of the Israeli government. It’s just like Al Quida and 9/11 the United States was complicit to their fanatism. all I am saying is to look at the parallels and no one should be surprised this is happening.

        Lastly any county that encourages children to write cute little notes to the children in other countries via bombs is morally, socially bankrupt by every sense of the meaning.

      • Deceptichum
        -3•1 year ago

        Israel didn’t cross a line this time, they crossed it long ago. You should look up the history, this is hardly new.

        Israel has been terrorising Gaza for almost a century with the same behaviour you see now.

    • dumdum666
      -6•1 year ago

      Are the hostages currently the best bargaining chip Hamas has, to stop the active ethnic cleansing Isreal has been dying to conduct? Yes.

      You are a disgusting human being - but you know that, don’t you? Parroting the talking points of terrorists about a fucking ethnic cleansing in Gaza? What the fuck are you talking about?