00:00Did 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 in 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 have alleged that not a single woman survived the horrors of captivity.
00:30Although it is true that only men were released during the last hostage deal, these claims do not take into account the wider context.
00:38On 7 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 return to Israel on 13 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 brokered between Israel and Hamas.
01:08Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on this in November 2023, referring to tough decisions in the context of Israel negotiating the release of infants and children, mothers and women.
01:19Additionally, media reports, as well as official communications from the IDF and Israeli government, confirm that female hostages have been freed during prior deals.
01:28On 15 October, the body of the last female hostage was returned to Israel, following 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, many had been freed previously.
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