Hamas frees 2 Israeli women, with 6-8 more set for return alongside 3 bodies
Mia Schem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40, back in Israel as part of seventh group to be released from captivity in Gaza.
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) Two Israeli women were freed from Hamas captivity Thursday afternoon ahead of the expected release of several more later in the evening. Reports varied as to whether six or eight more would be freed.
The two women transferred to Israel first were French-Israeli citizen Mia Schem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40, let go after 55 days of captivity in Gaza.
Hamas’s agreement with Israel for Thursday’s release, the seventh such handover so far, was for eight hostages and three bodies. But Hamas has indicated it could also free an additional two Russian-Israeli citizens, as it has done in previous days as a gesture to Moscow.
The release came after a deal to extend the ongoing truce was reached early Thursday morning, just ahead of a 7 a.m. deadline for it to expire. The agreement was made after Israel reportedly rejected an early list of hostages sent by Hamas which it deemed unacceptable.
Shortly before 7 a.m., the IDF said that “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the agreement, the ceasefire will continue.”
It remained unclear Thursday night whether the truce would be extended for another, eighth day on Friday. Channel 12 news cited unnamed Israeli sources as saying Israel was preparing for the possibility of resuming its military offensive in the morning should no deal be reached.
Israel has insisted Hamas release all children and civilian women held hostage by the terror group. Hamas-led terrorists took about 240 hostages of all ages during the October 7 shock assault when some 1,200 people were massacred in southern Israel.
The temporary ceasefire agreement has so far seen 97 civilians released from Hamas captivity in Gaza as of Wednesday: 73 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals and 1 Filipino
Israel estimates that about 145 hostages — including 15 civilian women and children — are now being held in Gaza and insists the terror group release all remaining civilian women and children hostages before additional agreements are considered.
Mia Schem, released Thursday, was kidnapped on October 7 from the Supernova music festival near Re’im. Schem was the first Israeli seen in a Hamas propaganda video released nine days after she was taken hostage.
Schem could be seen in the video being treated after she was wounded in her arm, and later speaking to the camera. Her mother, Keren Schem, welcomed the sign of life and begged for her daughter to be freed: “I see that she’s very terrified, in a lot of pain, and I can see that she’s saying what they’re telling her to say.” Her family said they believe she was shot in the shoulder before being taken hostage.
Amit Soussana, from Kfar Aza, is a lawyer who was home sick with a fever when she was abducted.
She texted her family on October 7 that there were terrorists “outside my window… it’s scary, it doesn’t seem real.” Around 10 a.m. she told them she was going to hide in a closet and that her cellphone battery was about to run out — the last they heard from her.
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