Nov. 29 (UPI) — An American hostage was among the 10 Israeli and four Thai captives who were released by Hamas to the Red Cross on Wednesday.
According to reports, American Israeli Liat Beinin Atzili, who had been taken hostage along with her husband during the initial Hamas attack on Oct. 7, was one of the people freed Wednesday.
Separately, two Israeli-Russian citizens were released outside of the Israel-Hamas negotiations.
Of the 10 Israelis released Wednesday, six are from Kibbutz Be’eri, where more than 130 Israelis were killed during the initial Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
In a statement from the White House, President Joe Biden praised the day’s news.
“Today, 16 more people have been returned to their families after being held hostage by Hamas for more than 50 days,” Biden said. “Among them is Liat Beinin — a high school teacher, a guide at Israel’s Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem and an American. Jill and I are deeply gratified that she will soon be reunited with her three children and her father, who have been wracked with worry for her safety.”
Biden said the United States remains ” determined to secure the release of every person taken hostage by Hamas during its brutal terrorist assault on Israel on October 7, including Liat’s husband, Aviv.”
Later Wednesday at an airport in Pueblo, Colo., where Biden was traveling to deliver an economic address, the president said Beinin was “safe” in Egypt.
“She’s crossed the border,” Biden told reporters. “I talked with her mother and father, and they’re very appreciative. And things are moving well. She’ll soon be home with her three children.”
In the earlier statement, Biden thanked Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi “for their continued partnership in this process and their ongoing commitment to bring every hostage home.”
According to Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Israeli forces also killed three Palestinians in Gaza who were accused of having “violated the cease-fire and were a threat.”
“We are continuing to progress this evening with the deal to return the hostages,” Hagari said.
With a two-day cease-fire extension due to expire Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been dispatched to the Middle East to try lobby for a ceasefire extension.
Prior to his departure, Blinken told reporters in Brussels that the U.S. wanted to extend the cease-fire in order to “continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in.”