An Amazing incident took place today (Tuesday) in the Gaza Strip, when Farhan alkadi, one of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, managed to escape captivity with the IDF forces in the area. Alkadi, 53, was a resident of the Bedouin diaspora in Rahat, and was abducted on October 7 from the Moshav of Magen, where he worked as a guard in a packing house. Alkadi is married and has no fewer than 11 children. Details about the miraculous escape will be provided later, but for the time being, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari made a limited statement about the story.
The military pressure has so far led to the release of 7 live hostages – the soldier Uri Magidish in October, the 2 adult hostages (Fernando and Luis) in February, and the 4 young hostages (Noa, Shlomi, Almog and Andrei) from Nusirat in June, as part of Operation Arnon. About 100 hostages were released in November with the deal, and several dozen bodies were returned in various operations during the maneuver. In the Gaza Strip, 108 people remain kidnapped, a third of whom at least are presumed dead.
In the meantime, negotiations for the release of the hostages continue, mediated by Egypt and Qatar. Israel continues to compromise and to agree to further concessions (as long as they are not substantive and strategic), but Hamas does not express willingness to defrost its positions and even to negotiate. Hopefully, the reduction of the chances of a regional war in the coming months, following Israel’s successful pre-emptive attack against Lebanon, will help thaw Hamas’ positions and advance the possibility of releasing a large part of the remaining hostages.
