Latest news with #HishamAl-Sayed
Arab News
23-02-2025
- Arab News
Father of freed Gaza hostage says fellow Arabs should be outraged by Hamas
JERUSALEM: The father of Hisham Al-Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim returned to Israel after nearly a decade in Gaza captivity, on Sunday urged 'the Arab world' to speak out against abuses by Hamas. Sayed, 37, was released by the Palestinian militant group on Saturday under a fragile truce in its war with Israel. The man, who is schizophrenic according to his family, had entered the Gaza Strip in 2015 and was held hostage there since. 'At the start of his captivity, when there were four hostages in Gaza, I thought that Hamas members would keep him safe, because it was in their interest' to exchange him for Palestinians in Israeli jails, said the father, Shaaban Al-Sayed. Speaking to journalists at a hospital in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, he said that after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, 'I began to tremble with fear.' 'I saw that Bedouins and Arabs were killed, working people who weren't soldiers or fighters,' said Sayed of some of the hundreds killed during the attack. 'The Arab world doesn't react, doesn't give any response to that, doesn't take any stance,' he said. 'We want the Arab world, and particularly Arab society in Israel, to voice their opinion: What do they think about the fact that innocent people were kidnapped and murdered?' Sayed accused Hamas of violating the teachings of Islam by exploiting his son who 'has mental problems.' 'When we got Hisham back, we were relieved to see him walking on his legs,' the father added, 'but as I held him in my arms, I realized I was hugging a body... not a human being.' 'He doesn't talk. He doesn't have a voice. He can't remember anything. It's like he hadn't been with other human beings' during his years in captivity, he said. 'This makes us angry,' added the father, calling to intensify efforts to free all remaining hostages in Gaza.
Al-Ahram Weekly
22-02-2025
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Hamas completes captive releases with handover of Hisham Al-Sayed in Gaza City - War on Gaza
Hamas handed over Israeli captive Hisham Al-Sayed to the Red Cross (ICRC) at a location designated by its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, east of Gaza City, Al Jazeera reported. The group had earlier completed the handover of three captives in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza and two captives in Rafah. The Israeli army later confirmed that the ICRC had received Al-Sayed and said he was on his way to a meeting point with Israeli forces. Shortly after, Israeli media reported that the army had taken custody of Al-Sayed from the Red Cross. The release of Al-Sayed, 36, along with the five other captives earlier in the day, marks the final group of living captives to be freed during the first phase of the ceasefire, which is set to expire on 1 March. Al-Sayed was released without a handover ceremony in Gaza City. The Al-Qassam Brigades told Al Jazeera they had decided to do so out of respect for Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI), also known as 1948 Palestinians. The group added that Israel had 'abandoned' Al-Sayed for 10 years because of his status as a PCI. Short link:
Egypt Today
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
Hamas names six Israeli captives to be released Saturday
File- The Red Cross team signed documents on receiving the bodies of the four Israeli captives from Hamas amid a large public presence CAIRO – 21 February 2025: Hamas Movement announced on Friday that names of the would-be released Israeli captives on Saturday in return for releasing Palestinian prisoners, as part of the Prisoner Swap deal between the Movement and Israel. Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida announced the six names of the Israeli captives who will be handed over to a Red Cross team on Saturday. The names are as follow: 1- Elijah Maimon Yitzhak Cohen 2- Omar Shem Tov 3- Omer Finkert 4- Tal Shoham 5- Avera Mengistu 6- Hisham Al-Sayed The movement also issued another statement announcing that, following the Palestinian resistance's submission of the names of the Zionist captives, 50 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 prisoners with long sentences, 47 prisoners from the Wafa al-Ahrar group who were re-arrested, and 445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7 will be released tomorrow, Saturday, as part of the first phase of the exchange deal, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office. These captives are the last living prisoners set to be freed during the first phase of the ceasefire in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Among the captives scheduled for release on Saturday are Hisham Al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, according to head of Hamas Khalil Al-Hayya's comments on Wednesday. They were captured in 2014 and 2015 after crossing into Gaza. In return, a total of 800 Palestinian prisoners will be released as part of the deal on Saturday. The would-be released Palestinians inmates will include 445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip, who were arrested after October 7, 2023, 110 prisoners serving life sentences or long-term sentences, and 47 prisoners who were released in the 2011 Shalit deal and then re-arrested. Also, the Palestinian prisoners will include 200 women and children under the age of 19 from Gaza, who were arrested during the war. Additionally, senior leaders of the Qassam Brigades in the West Bank, most notably Abdel Nasser Issa, Othman Bilal, and Ammar Al-Zaben, will be among the would-be released prisoners. Yestersday, Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli captives, including Bibas family (two young boys and their mother), as part of the ceasefire agreement between the movement and Israel after tireless efforts of mediation from Egypt, Qatar, and the US.
Al-Ahram Weekly
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
UPDATED: Last Hamas-Israel prisoner swap under ceasefire 1st phase Saturday - Foreign Affairs
An informed Egyptian source told Al-Qahera News TV that the last batch in the exchange of prisoners under the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel will take place on Saturday. The source said recent talks between Egyptian, Qatari, Israeli, and US delegations in Cairo sealed the deal. "The remaining Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners under the agreement in the first phase of the ceasefire will be released on Saturday,' added the source. Under the 42-day first phase of the three-stage ceasefire agreement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, which went into effect on 19 January, 33 Israeli captives held by Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip must be released in exchange for the release of 1,900 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. On Saturday, in the sixth prisoner swap under the ceasefire, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, including 36 serving life sentences and 333 Gazans arrested after 7 October after Hamas released three Israeli captives. In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Hamas revealed the identities of some of the living Israeli captives and the remains of four dead ones it intended to release in the seventh prisoner swap with Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire deal. 'The release comes as a continuation of our ongoing efforts to make the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with the enemy a success and to prepare for engaging in the second phase, and in response to the efforts of the mediators,' noted Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the Political Bureau and the head of Hamas in Gaza. According to its statement, Hamas would hand over four bodies of Israeli captives killed during the 15-month Israeli carpet bombing of the strip, including the bodies of the Bebas family. Hamas would also hand over six living Israeli captives, including Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed. 'These steps reflect the seriousness of the movement in implementing the terms of the agreement as stated, and in response to the efforts of the mediators,' noted Al-Hayya. He said the release of living Israeli captives and the remains of those killed should be met by an Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners as agreed upon in the first phase of the ceasefire deal and would pave the ground for the start of negotiations for an end to the war during the second phase of the deal. Seventh exchange Meanwhile, informed sources revealed to Alghad Alarabi TV channel on Tuesday details of the seventh prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel. Under the deal, Israel will release half of the women and children detained from Gaza after 7 October 2023, on the condition that they were not involved in subsequent events. In return, Hamas will hand over the bodies of four Israeli captives on Thursday, according to the sources. On Saturday, Israeli captives Hisham Al-Sayed and Avraham Mengistu are expected to be released in exchange for 46 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences. These prisoners, who were previously freed in the Shalit deal but later rearrested, will be deported abroad as part of the agreement. Additionally, Israel will release 444 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza arrested after 7 October, along with 48 serving life sentences — some facing deportation — and 60 others with long sentences, in exchange for four more living Israeli captives. At the final phase of the arrangement, Israel will free the remaining Palestinian women and children detained from Gaza in return for Hamas handing over the bodies of four additional Israeli captives on the first of next month, the sources noted. Also on Tuesday, Bulldozers, rubble-removal equipment and mobile homes for displaced Palestinians began entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. Tel Aviv had blocked the entry of the equipment and caravans in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas, in response, had threatened to postpone the scheduled release of three Israeli captives last Saturday unless Israel allowed the entry of the equipment and mobile homes. Egyptian and Qatari mediators resolved the issue shortly before the swap took place on Saturday. The ceasefire agreement mandates that Israel permit the entry of 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents and rubble removal equipment to start the strip reconstruction process at the end of the 42-day first phase. Short link:
