< h1 > Four-year-old American girl, whose parents were killed on October 7, has been freed by Hamas along with Israeli and Thai hostages < /h1 >
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A young American girl, four years old, who was held captive by Hamas in Gaza, has been released, announced US President Joe Biden on Sunday, November 26. At the same time, the militant group disclosed that they had handed over 13 Israeli hostages, three Thais, and one individual with Russian citizenship during the third day of the truce with Israel.
The release of some of the hostages, taken when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, is expected to be reciprocated by the Israelis, who are likely to release 39 Palestinian prisoners.
Biden expressed his hope that the halt in hostilities between Israel and Hamas would continue as long as prisoners were being released. He also expressed his wish for the release of more Americans held by Hamas.
Biden shared that the 4-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, had witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas fighters during the raid into Israel on October 7 and had been held captive since then.
“What she endured is unimaginable,” Biden stated at a press conference in the U.S.
The four-day truce marks the first pause in the fighting over the past 7 weeks. On October 7, Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured approximately 240 hostages, taking them back into Gaza. In response, Israel vowed to dismantle the Hamas militants who control Gaza, launching airstrikes on the enclave and initiating a ground offensive in the north, resulting in an estimated 14,800 Palestinian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with security forces inside the Gaza Strip, indicating that the campaign was far from over.
“Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the strength, the power, the will, and the determination to achieve all the goals of the war, and that is what we will do,” he declared.
Egypt and Qatar acted as mediators on Saturday to uphold the truce.
