MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hamas releases six Argentine hostages

Among those released Monday were Argentine-born Karina Engelbert, 50, and her daughters Mika, 18, and Yuva, 11, while Sharon Cunio was with her twins Emma and Yuli

Six Argentine nationals were among the 11 hostages released Monday by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in another exchange with Israel for 30 prison inmates held by Tel Aviv. The humanitarian ceasefire for further swaps has been extended for another 48 hours, it was also reported.

 Among those released Monday were Argentine-born Karina Engelbert, 50, and her daughters Mika, 18, and Yuva, 11, while Sharon Cunio, who is married to an Argentine citizen, was released with her children Emma and Yuli. The other children released were identified as Amit Shani, Sahar Calderon, Erez Calderon, Or Jacob, and Yigil Yaakov.

Qatari sources also said nationals of France and Germany were among those released by Hamas. “Those released from Israeli prisons include 30 minors and three women, while the Israelis released from Gaza include three French citizens, two German citizens, and six Argentine citizens,” all with dual citizenship, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X. Qatar is acting as a mediator in these negotiations, in addition to the United States and Egypt.

The initial truce provided for the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prison inmates, which was achieved with Monday's swap.

“We are working with mediators non-stop, nothing is final until it actually happens; things are moving forward today as well, but you have to be patient,” a Hamas spokesman said, according to The Times of Israel.

The six Argentine women were captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 raids into Israeli territory.

Karina Engelbert is an accountant by profession from Cordoba who moved to Israel with her three younger siblings in 1989. Her son Tom, aged 21, was not captured because he was in the Israeli Army military bases at the time of the attacks.

Yuli and Emma Cunio are 3-year-old twins and are three years old. They were kidnapped when Hamas took some 230 people hostage. They are the daughters of David Cunio, a 33-year-old Argentinean, and Sharon Alony (34), also captured on that date. When they were taken, they were together with Daniele Alony, Sharon's sister, and her five-year-old daughter Emilia, who were released on Nov. 26.

Shani Goren Horovitz, the Uruguayan woman kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 raids, was not among those released so far, but she was said to be “alive and well,” according to Uruguayan journalist Ana Jerozolimski, who contacted her family.

Meanwhile, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, an Argentine baby kidnapped in Gaza, is said to no longer be in the hands of Hamas but of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, together with his brother and mother. The Bibas family is made up of parents, Shiri Silberman and Yarden, 4-year-old Ariel, and Kfir.

Israel will resume operations with “full force” as soon as the current agreement expires if Hamas does not agree to further hostage releases, government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters Monday.

Hamas and other militia groups could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But they include several soldiers, and the militiamen are likely to demand much more for their release.