MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hamas has 21 Argentine hostages, Buenos Aires confirms

Argentina is banking on Massa's close ties with Qatar to broker the release of those held by Hamas

Argentine authorities confirmed Wednesday that 21 nationals of the South American country were among the hostages held by the pro-Palestine terrorist group Hamas in addition to the 9 fatalities since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The hostages, whose identities were not released for security reasons, are presumably somewhere in the Gaza Strip, it was also explained.

In this scenario, Interpol Argentina and Israel are upping contacts with the Qatari Government, which is close to Hamas and whose mediation allowed the release of two US hostages during the weekend.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani is in charge of talks with authorities from Argentina, and also from Egypt, Turkey, and the Red Cross, as part of the diplomatic efforts to look after the integrity of the 220 hostages in Gaza.

Argentine outlets have also underlined Economy Minister Sergio Massa's close ties with Qatar, from whom he obtained a US$ 580 million loan in drawing rights (US$ 775 million) in August this year.

Among the hostages is the nephew of Argentine singer-songwriter León Gieco, who gained notoriety for his hit “Sólo le pido a Dios” (I only ask God) released during the 1982 South Atlantic conflict. ”Sólo le pido a Dios que la guerra no me sea indiferente; es un monstruo grande y pisa fuerte toda la pobre inocen cia de la gente (I only pray to God that the war will not be indifferent to me; it is a big monster and it tramples hard on all the poor innocence of the people)“ goes the song.

”It's all over, I love you all very much,” Gieco's nephew said in a message to his father before being captured.