Hostages, residents set to receive medicines as Israel-Hamas war rages on
RAFAH (AP): A SHIPMENT of medicine for dozens of hostages held by Hamas was en route to Gaza on Wednesday after France and Qatar mediated the first agreement between Israel and the militant group since a week-long ceasefire in November.
The medicines arrived in Egypt and were on the way to the border. A senior Hamas official said that for every box provided for the hostages, 1,000 boxes of medicine would be sent in for Palestinians. The deal also includes the delivery of humanitarian aid to residents of the besieged coastal enclave.
The agreement came more than 100 days into a conflict that shows no sign of ending and which has sparked tensions across the Middle East, with a dizzying array of strikes and counter-strikes in recent days from northern Iraq to the Red Sea, and from southern Lebanon to Pakistan.
Palestinian militants are still putting up resistance across Gaza in the face of one of the deadliest military campaigns in recent history. Some 85 per cent of the narrow coastal territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and the United Nations says a quarter of the population is starving.
Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas to ensure it can never repeat an attack like the one on October 7 that triggered the war. Militants burst through Israel’s border defences and stormed through several communities that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing around 250.
Israel also has promised to win the return of more than 100 hostages still held inside Gaza. Hamas, in late November, released most of the women and children held captive in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Hamas has said it will not release any more hostages until there is a permanent ceasefire, something Israel and the United States, its top ally, have ruled out.