Israel says there are about 30 minors among the 203 hostages, "most of them alive, in the hands of Palestinian militias"

The Israeli Army has estimated that around 30 minors under the age of 16 are among the approximately 203 hostages held by Palestinian militias after their ground assault against southern Israel on October 7 and that “the majority” of Those captured are found alive although he recognizes that the militias have carried dead people on their backs to also negotiate for their corpses.

The military, who specify that among those kidnapped there are also between 10 and 20 people over 60 years of age, detail that the majority of them are alive, although they have also confirmed that the militias involved in the attack, both Hamas and of Islamic Jihad, have taken dead people with them.

The Army maintains between 100 and 200 people are missing, and has indicated that approximately 300 of the 1,400 deceased are still unidentified, as General Nitzan Alon reported to the 'Times of Israel' newspaper.

This assessment takes place on a day in which Hamas announced its intention to release, when it understands that the favorable conditions are being met, all the hostages from the nine foreign countries that have been held captive in the Gaza Strip since the incursion on December 7. October.

“Foreign prisoners are our guests and will be released when conditions permit.”. We urge all countries in the world to warn their compatriots not to participate in the enemy army,” said the spokesman for the Ezedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Obeida.

Abu Obeida has explained that the prisoner figures are not concrete because there are “practical and security difficulties” that prevent an exhaustive count, although there would be 200 under the control of Hamas and another 50 in the hands of other “factions of the resistance, in other places”.

The 203 empty chairs

The families of the hostages in Gaza have set up a huge table this Friday in Tel Aviv to celebrate the ritual dinner of the Jewish Shabbat in which, in addition to food and wine to honor the holiday, there are 203 empty chairs, one for each person kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, author of the terrorist attacks on the 7th against Israel, and as an appeal to the government of this country not to ignore them.

The hostages' families have vowed to intensify their pressure campaign against the government after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza through Egypt without first securing the hostages' release.

For several nights, a vigil has been held in the central Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv in which 1,400 candles are lit, one for each person killed in Israel due to Hamas attacks.

According to a survey published this Friday by the newspaper Maariv, 80% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu should publicly assume responsibility for the security failures that led to the terrorist attacks in southern Israel, something he has not yet done.