Detained Gazans Ask Israel's Court To Release Them To West Bank: Report

Hundreds of Gaza residents who were legally staying in Israel during Hamas' October 7 attack, have filed a petition in Israel's High Court to release them to the West Bank and let them meet with their relatives, reported The Times of Israel, citing KAN news.

The petition was filed by the Gisha and HaMoked rights groups, who have reportedly demanded the transfer of 568 Gazans currently being held in detention facilities to the West Bank.

They further asked to at least allow them to meet their families, reported The Times of Israel.

The petition also demanded that Israeli authorities inform the families of these detained Gazans to know where they are and what their status is.

Moreover, High Court Justice Ruth Ronen has requested that the state provide a response to the lawsuit by Wednesday, according to The Times of Israel.

The security cabinet said that Israel was "cutting contact" with Gaza and that any Gazan workers who were in Israel would be returned to Gaza, Jerusalem Post reported.

On Tuesday, the Center for the Defense of the Individual reported that Israel was detaining about 4,000 Gazan workers.

Meanwhile, noting that 27 days have passed since Hamas fired rockets at Israel on October 7, the IDF stated that currently 242 hostages are in Gaza, out of which 30 of them are children.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lior Haiat on Friday said that this is a war of self-defence after being attacked brutally.

"On October 7 Israel declared war against Hamas. This is a war of self-defence after being attacked brutally. Our goal in this war is to eliminate Hamas control and Hamas terrorism from the Gaza Strip," he said in a press conference virtually.

Nearly 3,000 Hamas terrorists on October 7, burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, and killed some 1,400 people, taking at least 245 hostages of all ages under their cover as they attacked by thousands of rocket fire at Israeli towns and cities.

The majority of those killed by Hamas terrorists were civilians, including babies, children, and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)