Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday evening that the agreement was reached with the participation of Mossad chief David Barnea, who is visiting Qatar to discuss “the issue of supplying medicines to Israeli hostages.” She said the medicines were purchased in France, according to a list prepared by Israel, and that country representatives would be responsible for delivering them to their “final destination.”
“Israel insists that all medicines reach their destination,” the statement said, without providing further clarifications.
The International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed the agreement, calling it “a much-needed moment of relief for the hostage families and health facilities in Gaza.” The organization, which will help transport aid inside Gaza, added that it “urges parties and influential people to ensure that medicines reach the hands of everyone who needs them.”
The exact mechanism for delivering aid to the hostages was not immediately clear. Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said on the X website, previously Twitter, that the delivery includes 140 types of medicines that the Red Cross will transport to four hospitals in the Gaza Strip and then distribute them, including to the hostages.
He said that among the conditions proposed were a ban on Israel's inspection of packages before entering Gaza and a requirement that shipments “for every box of medicine” for hostages include “another thousand for our people.”
He said that France requested the implementation of the handover process, but Hamas refused “because of our lack of confidence in the French government and its position in support of the Israeli occupation and obstructing the aspirations of our people for freedom and return.”
Philippe Lalieu, director of the Crisis and Support Center at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a radio interview on Tuesday that France transported the medicines to Qatar on Saturday in diplomatic bags. He said that they would be handed over to 45 hostages, none of whom were French citizens.
He added that the hostage families initially contacted French authorities months ago and obtained a list of 85 hostages in need of medication, including a number who were later released during a temporary ceasefire in late November, or have since died. In captivity.
Lalio said the mission, which was carried out under the direction of President Emmanuel Macron, did not include direct contact between French officials and Hamas.
French media, citing the president's office, said that the medicines would be delivered to Rafah and would be picked up by the Red Cross and delivered to the hostages, but there was no mention that they would go to hospitals first. The packages contain enough medicine for three months of treatment, and French authorities hope to facilitate future deliveries, according to reports.
For months, Israel has been demanding that medicines be delivered to more than 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity. The hostages include many who were injured in the October 7 attack, and others suffering from serious medical conditions.
Hamas released more than 100 hostages in late November, although the way the movement carried out the transfer was sharply criticized by many Israelis after footage and testimonies indicated they were subjected to physical and verbal harassment by local residents during the operation. Exchange.
The families of the hostages met with the Israeli, Qatari and international authorities, demanding that all possible measures be taken to ensure the release of their relatives, amid a sense of urgency about their fate during the ongoing conflict.
On Tuesday, Itai Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi, who were kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Beri, were announced dead on their kibbutz.
The news came a day after Hamas released a video showing the bodies of the two men, saying they were killed when Israeli air strikes bombed the buildings where they were being held. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari rejected this claim, calling it “a lie by Hamas,” adding that the building in which the two men were was not considered a target and was not bombed by the Israeli army.
The aid deal will also include transporting medicines to the most vulnerable areas for civilians in Gaza, where 15 hospitals are partially functioning and the health system is rapidly collapsing as fighting continues.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that Brett McGurk, President Biden's coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, arrived in Doha to discuss a possible agreement to release the prisoners. Six Americans are believed to be among the hostages.
But France and Qatar, which acted as mediators between the world and Hamas, were the ones who announced the agreement publicly.
Qatar mediated the release of two American hostages in October, and oversaw the cessation of fighting between Israel and Hamas in November, which led to the release of more than 100 hostages from Gaza in exchange for more than 200 Palestinians serving sentences in Israeli prisons.
The latest deal, if implemented successfully, could provide life-saving treatment for hostages who have been held in Gaza for more than 100 days. It is not clear how much aid is allocated to civilians in Gaza, where doctors are rushing to care for a steady stream of severe cases, and international health officials say some residents are already living in a state of famine.
“Some people haven’t eaten for days,” Olga Cherevko, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in a video from southern Gaza on Tuesday. “The scale of the needs is enormous.”
Michel Olivier Lacharité, head of emergency operations for Doctors Without Borders (MSF, by its French acronym), told The Washington Post last week that as ground operations and bombing move south, “we are running out of hospitals.”
The organisation, along with the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid to the Palestinians, also withdrew from Al-Aqsa Hospital – the only hospital operating in central Gaza at the time – earlier this month, after the surrounding areas came under Israeli attack and were evacuated. Notices from the IDF.
“Technically, it is true that the hospitals themselves are not targeted,” Lacharité said. “However, what we can see is that the other side of the street or the buildings next to these hospitals are being targeted, leaflets are being sent out, and that is causing some panic.”
The Jordanian Army reported on Wednesday that its field hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis was affected by nearby fighting, resulting in the injury of a staff member and a patient. The army said: “Despite the significant material damage caused by the ongoing Israeli bombing in the area, which began yesterday and continued until Wednesday morning, the hospital remains committed to performing its medical and humanitarian duties.”
The statement added that the Jordanian army holds the Israeli army responsible for the safety of the hospital staff.
Masih reported from Seoul and Timset reported from London. Karen DeYoung and Sammy Westphal in Washington contributed to this report.
