In the midst of ongoing negotiations mediated by Qatar to extend the truce this Thursday, Hamas handed over two women, including Mia ShemA 21-year-old French-Israeli girl who was the first hostage shown on video by the Palestinian Islamist organization after her abduction on October 7.

Shem, who was wounded and underwent surgery in Gaza, was handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas militias along with Amit Susana40 years old, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed. A video released by Hamas showed the trial surrounded by a crowd of Gazans. An international organization led them to special forces and Shin Bet security officers in northern Gaza. Both were transferred to Hatzerim Air Base in southern Israel. “This is a great joy that I share with his family and with the entire French people,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in X, earlier on Twitter.

Eight more hostages are scheduled to be handed over in the next few hours, in line with Israel’s demand that Hamas release ten hostages a day on the seventh day of the truce, after the Israelis and Palestinians early this Thursday – minutes after the truce ended – agreed to an extension of one day. In return, this Thursday the Israelis released 30 Palestinian prisoners, 22 children and 8 women.

Qatari sources in charge of the mediation admit Independente complexity of indirect negotiations. Doha is pushing for a move to a lasting truce, but pressure is mounting on the Israeli government to resume military operations in the Gaza Strip. Benjamin Netanyahu, who met this Thursday with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, once again stated that he promised to “destroy Hamas.” “Nothing will stop me from doing this,” he said amid international pressure to avoid further incursions and bombings that have already killed 15,000 people and displaced more than 1.8 million.