00:00Dids female hostages make it out of Gaza?
00:07A total of 20 individuals were freed as part of the fragile ceasefire deal brokered between Israel and Hamas
00:13in early October, which was hailed by European leaders.
00:17In exchange, Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
00:21Following these major events, a number of European journalists, commentators and social media users
00:26have alleged that not a single woman survived the horrors of captivity in Gaza.
00:31Although it is true that only men were released during the last hostage deal,
00:35these claims do not take into account the wider context.
00:38On 7th October 2023, Hamas took 251 hostages from Israel into Gaza.
00:4451 of them were women, 200 were male, while 37 were children.
00:48More than two years on, the last remaining living hostages returned to Israel on 13th October.
00:53The full list of these 20 living hostages is publicly available and includes only men.
00:59However, there is a reason for this.
01:02Women, civilians and children were released first during the successive hostage deals
01:06brokered between Israel and Hamas.
01:08Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on this in November 2023,
01:13referring to tough decisions in the context of Israel negotiating the release of infants
01:17and children, mothers and women.
01:19Additionally, media reports, as well as official communications from the IDF and Israeli government,
01:25confirm that female hostages have been freed during prior deals.
01:29On 15th October, the body of the last female hostage was returned to Israel,
01:33following identification carried out by forensic experts.
01:37So although there were no female hostages released as part of the last deal brokered between Israel and Hamas,
01:43many had been freed previously.
01:45For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:47For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:49For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:50For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:51For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:52For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:53For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:54For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.
01:55For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au.au.
01:56For more information, visit www.fema.au.au.
01:57For more information, visit www.fema.au.au.
01:58For more information, visit www.fema.au.au.
01:59For more information, visit www.fema.au.au.
