3 Americans, including 3-year-old girl, could be among hostages to be released by Hamas: officials

Publish date: 2024-06-09

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Three Americans who were abducted by Hamas terrorists last month could be among the 50 hostages the Palestinian terror group releases as part of a truce agreement with Israel, according to a report.

Two women and a 3-year-old girl are among 10 Americans who are believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since the group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish nation, senior US officials told CNN.

President Biden said additional American hostages are likely to be freed as part of the deal announced Tuesday night, without providing an exact number.

“Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released,” he said in a statement.

The three hostages may soon see freedom as Hamas agreed to release 50 women and children in exchange for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and Israel’s release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, also all women and children.

A sign illuminates a square in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, on Nov. 21, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
People walk past a billboard showing photos of people abducted by Hamas, at the Tel Aviv museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Nov. 21, 2023. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“We are determined to get everybody home,” a senior administration official told the outlet. “The way the deal is structured, it very much incentivizes the release of everybody.”

Relatives of 3-year-old hostage Abigail Mor Idan said they are praying she is released by her birthday on Friday.

“The one thing that we all hold on to is that hope now that Abigail comes home, she comes home by Friday,” the toddler’s aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali told CNN Tuesday night. “Friday is her 4th birthday. We need to see Abigail come out and then we will be able to believe it.”

An anti-zionist counter-protester holds a sign against the state of Israel next to an event in support of the state of Israel and against antisemitism. Aaron Schwartz – CNP / MEGA
Israel Defense Forces continue to operate in the Gaza Strip to kill terrorists, destroy terrorist infrastructure, and locate weapons stored inside civilian buildings. IDF

Abigail and her older siblings, 6 and 10, were made orphans by Hamas terrorists who stormed their home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 attack. Abigail was reportedly in her father’s arms when he and her mother were shot and killed by Hamas.

She crawled out “from under her father’s body… full of his blood” and was later kidnapped by Hamas, Hirsh Naftali told NBC News last week.

Her siblings, who witnessed their parents’ murder, escaped unharmed by hiding in a closet for 14 hours, she said.

Relatives of Abigail Mor Idan said they are praying she is released by her birthday on Friday. Courtesy of family

“For our family, we have spent the last seven weeks … worrying, wondering, praying, hoping,” Abigail’s aunt told CNN Tuesday.

In addition to the prisoner exchange, both parties have agreed to pause fighting for at least four days.

The temporary cease-fire would be most beneficial to Gaza, where Israel’s relentless airstrikes have reportedly killed more than 11,000 people and made it difficult to get aid in the territory where many Palestinians have no access to clean food and water or electricity and medicine.

Hadas Kalderon, the mother of Israeli hostage Sahar and her husband Ofer Kalderon, cries during a protest calling on the government to sign an agreement with Hamas for a release of hostages outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , on Nov. 21, 2023. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Protesters hold signs demanding the liberation of hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip after they were seized by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Nov. 21, 2023. REUTERS

If Hamas agrees to release more of the 240 Israeli hostages then the cease-fire could be extended longer, the senior official told CNN.

After the freed American hostages receive any needed medical care, the US State Department will provide consular assistance, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters earlier Tuesday.

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