Red Cross crisis response director Pascal Hundt told the British Sky News station that the organization “cannot make any predictions” on whether Hamas will fulfill its commitment to release 13 Israeli hostages today (Sunday).
Hundt said that the four-day ceasefire which began on Friday morning must endure to ensure that the hostages are released on schedule. He further stated that the population of Gaza is suffering as much as Hamas' hostages are.
“The population and the situation is so desperate here that you know we need this truce to hold in order to have more trucks and more emergency assistance coming into Gaza," Hundt said.
According to him, both the hostages and the population of Gaza are “living under conditions that I cannot even describe, because I never saw that in my entire career with the Red Cross”.
He described the release of the first groups of hostages on Friday and Saturday as "an extremely emotional moment."
Hundt said that the hostages felt "a sense of immense relief and hope when they saw the Red Cross and they understood that they were about to be brought back home."
"It's difficult to describe this event because it was so charged emotionally," he said. "We were almost crying during the moment. It was really a true moment of humanity."
Israel has received a list of 13 women and children who are supposed to be released by the Hamas terrorist organization later today.
Tensions are high after Hamas delayed the release of the second group of 13 hostages for hours yesterday, ultimately releasing them at night.
About 50 hostages are supposed to be released under the deal reached last week. In exchange, Israel is releasing about 150 security prisoners, 39 each day, and agreed to halt its military operation against Hamas for four days.