By Rob Picheta, Joseph Ataman and Amir Tal | CNNFor more than six weeks, the conditions in which the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas were being held in Gaza were virtually unknown to the outside world. Over the first three days of the truce, Hamas released a total of 58 hostages, primarily women and children, and Israel freed 117 Palestinian prisoners. Eighty-four-year-old Alma Avraham, who was among the Israeli hostages freed from Gaza on Sunday, has been admitted to the intensive care unit, Israel’s Soroka Medical Center said. That creates a complication in potentially extending the length of truce, because the agreement calls for Hamas to hand over the hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel – so Hamas must have the hostages to hand over. CNN has previously reported that an estimated 40 to 50 of the hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other groups or individuals.

Source: CNN November 28, 2023 20:13 UTC