Hamas Releases Two Israeli Women Amid Rising Gaza Death Toll

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RAMALLAH, Oct 23: The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip confirmed on Monday that the death toll of the Israeli aggression rose to 5,087 and injuries to 15,273 Palestinians. In a statement, the ministry said that the Israeli occupation has committed so far 597 massacres, and among the recent deaths include 2,055 children, 119 women, and 217 elderly people. The medical teams are dealing with injuries of severe burns and skin melting, calling on the international institutes to reveal the nature of the weapon used to cause the skin to melt off, and to urgently provide medical supplies to treat them, added the statement. The Palestinian government reiterated its condemnation of the ongoing war on Gaza, alongside the home invasions, killing and arresting hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank. Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated that what’s currently happening is due to the absence of a political framework and not adhering to the legitimate international resolutions including the legitimacy of a Palestinian State, leading to the “big explosion” that the world is witnessing today.

Abu Rudeineh noted that they were constantly warning of the continuous Israeli provocations in Jerusalem, storming Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the absence of the American role to pressure Israel to adhere to the legal international agreement as well as the international law, stressing the need to find a political framework. He affirmed that the government is coordinating with Egypt on entering humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing and that President Abbas is contacting leaders of the world to put an end to the assaults against the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.

The death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes, flattening residential buildings in what it says was preparation for an eventual ground assault. The United States advised Israel to delay an expected ground invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages..

A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where the population of 2.3 million has been running out of food, water and medicine under Israel’s two-week seal. With Israel still barring entry of fuel, the U.N. said its distribution of aid would grind to a halt within days when it can no longer fuel its trucks. Gaza hospitals are struggling to keep generators running to power life-saving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.

The release of the two hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, was confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The two women, along with their husbands, were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border in Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage through towns of southern Israel. Their husbands were not released.

In a statement, Hamas said it had released them for humanitarian reasons. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are believed to have taken roughly 220 people, including an unconfirmed number of foreigners and dual nationals. Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter last week.

Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza, vowing to destroy Hamas after its brutal Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israeli communities. That is raising fears of the war spreading beyond Gaza and Israel, as Iranian-backed fighters in the region are warning of possible escalation, including targeting U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast.

The U.S. has told Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and other groups not to join the fight. Israel has frequently traded fire with Hezbollah, and Israeli warplanes have struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon in recent days.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there had been an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and the U.S. was “deeply concerned about the possibility for any significant escalation” in attacks in coming days. (AP)

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