American-Israeli Teacher Among 16 Hostages Freed By Hamas

Liat Beinin Atzili, a U.S.-Israeli high school teacher, is among 16 more hostages released by Hamas.

Liat, 49, is the second U.S. citizen to be released after the militants freed four-year-old Abigail Edan, who lost both her parents, last week.

The mother of three children, Liat was also working as a guide at Israel’s Holocaust memorial Museum Yad Vashem.

Liat and her husband Aviv Atzili were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack.

Aviv Atzili still remains in the custody of Hamas with nearly 160 other hostages, which includes around 10 American citizens.

President Joe Biden said Washington remains determined to secure the release of every person taken hostage by Hamas, including Liat’s husband Aviv.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the pause in fighting to facilitate the release of more hostages and let more humanitarian assistance into Gaza for one more day.

Israel-Hamas truce was extended for a seventh day at the last minute, after both sides reportedly directing their military wings to get ready to resume fighting.

The deal to pause the fighting in Gaza has delivered meaningful results, according to Biden. Nearly 100 hostages have been returned to their families. The United States has led the international community to use this pause to accelerate the delivery of additional humanitarian assistance into the Palestinian enclave. More than 200 trucks loaded with aid, including food, water, medicine, shelter supplies, fuel, and cooking gas, have entered Gaza each of the last few days.

For the first time since this conflict began, aid reached northern Gaza. The United States airlifted more than 54,000 pounds of medical equipment and food aid to the humanitarian distribution center in Egypt — the first of three deliveries of critical supplies that will go to civilians in Gaza.

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