Daily Despatch: Hamas Frees Hostages, Netanyahu's Ally Explains Ground Offensive Delay

From the frontlines of the Israel-Palestine war, NDTV brings you daily despatches by journalist Allan Sorensen, Middle East Correspondent for Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, giving insights and gripping first-hand accounts from the war-torn region.

Two Israeli hostages, held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7. were handed over to the International Red Cross on Monday night.

Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, who were kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas, were immediately flown by helicopter to the Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv for medical evaluation. The two are still hospitalized, but according to official Israeli sources they are doing well.

At least 220 others, including the husbands of both the freed women, Amiram Cooper, 84, and Oded Lifshitz, 83, are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, Hamas said the two elderly Israeli women were released as a humanitarian gesture. In Israel, the release is seen as a Hamas effort to improve its image vis a vis the regional and international community.

In his first interview with Western media since October 7, Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas leader living in Qatar, suggested that the organization will release all civilian hostages if Israel stops its attack on Gaza.

"Let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and Egypt and some Arab countries and others will find a way to have them released and we'll send them to their homes," he said.

He added that the release of hostages isn't possible while Israel's air offensive remains intense.

"We want to stop the random bombardments, the total destruction, the genocide so that the al Qassam soldiers can take them from their places and hand them to the Red Cross or whoever. We need the right conditions to allow them to be released," Khaled Mashaal said. 

In a rare move, the Israeli Intelligence community on Monday presented previously unseen raw footage to the foreign press at a military base in central Israel. The footage, mainly obtained from the GoPro bodycam cameras of Hamas members and surveillance cameras, is a part of an Israeli effort to fight what is described as Holocaust-like denials of Hamas's massacres in southern Israel. 

The videos and photos showed murder, torture and even decapitation of Israeli citizens. A recording of a phone conversation also reveals how a Hamas member proudly called his family inside Gaza from a phone he had stolen from an Israeli victim. In the conversation the Hamas member can be heard talking to his father.  

"Dad, I killed 10 with my bare hands. Their blood is on my hands, let me speak to Mom. Please be proud of me, Dad," he said.

Israel keeps delaying its expected land invasion of Gaza. Although the army is ready, no green light has been given from the political leadership. Aryeh Deri, a veteran Israeli politician and close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explained the reason for the delay. 

"We are over two weeks after the terrible terrorist attack we went through. We must tell the truth, no one was prepared for this. No one was prepared for such a terrible disaster, the large volumes of the murdered and kidnapped, and a very difficult struggle on several fronts," he said. 

Aryeh Deri said Israel never had a plan for toppling Hamas in Gaza and therefore needed time to evolve a comprehensive plan.   

 "From that moment on, we had to prepare for the real war, the goal of which is agreed upon by all is that Hamas does not remain in existence - neither from a governmental point of view nor from a military point of view. Here, too, we have to say honestly, there was no such plan. It is being prepared during the battle. It is not currently extant. It is not that the army is ready and the political echelon only needs to make decisions," he said. 

On the diplomatic front, the US kept pushing for a UN resolution condemning Hamas' attacks and backing Israel's right to self-defense in preparation for Tuesday's monthly meeting of the UN Security Council. 

A draft of the resolution, obtained by AP, demands the immediate release of all hostages, urges respect for international laws on conducting war and protecting civilians, urges all countries to intensify efforts to prevent spillover, and demands immediate humanitarian access to Gaza.

Regarding the spillover effect of the Gaza conflict, US forces in the Middle East have already come under attack on several fronts. On Monday, Iran-backed militias in Iraq claimed they attacked two US bases in eastern Syria, marking a fourth attack in one day.

According to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a drone attack was carried out against the US military bases near the Al-Omar oil field in Deir el-Zour province and in al-Shaddadi. 

Earlier that day the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for drone attacks on the al-Tanf garrison near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.  

In an effort to boost military capabilities in the region, the US has dispatched several military advisers to Israel over the past few days. Among them, according to Times of Israel, is Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn. He took part in US special forces operations against Islamic State in Iraq.

In another development on Monday, the Israeli Air Force for the first time downed a drone in the skies above the Haifa bay. The drone entered Israeli territory from Lebanon and was shot down minutes before it could reach the city of Haifa, a major Israeli city with a population of approximately 300,000. 

On Israel's northern border with Lebanon, mutual attacks between Hezbollah and Israel continued yesterday. 

In a recent visit to a military base in northern Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah against escalating the situation.

"I cannot tell you right now if Hezbollah will decide to fully enter the war. If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will long for the Second Lebanon War," Netanyahu said, referring to the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. 

In a televised conversation with elite soldiers, Netanyahu added: "That would be its biggest mistake ever. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the meaning for it and for the state of Lebanon will be devastating".

(Allan Sorensen is the Middle East correspondent for the Danish daily newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.