Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, released its video of three Israeli hostages being released Sunday night, there was a minute detail. As Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari got into a Red Cross SUV in Gaza City, a Hamas fighter handed each of them a paper bag or gift bag with the Qassam Brigades’ logo on it.
A representative of Gonen’s family reportedly said on Monday that the gift bag she received held a certificate, a necklace and photos – and said that Israel’s Internal Security Agency (the Shin Bet) had confiscated the materials. Israeli media reportedly said that the photos depicted the women’s time in captivity.
During the handover, a Red Cross representative was asked to sign an Arabic-language document. “Acknowledgment of Receipt of Israeli Prisoners,” the document read. “I, the representative of the International Red Cross, acknowledge that I have received from the Izz Eddin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, a total of three prisoners, who are…” and then the names of the hostages.
A CNN report calls Hamas’ giving of gift bags to Israeli hostages ‘bizarre’. “After 471 days in forced captivity, the idea that a hostage would receive a gift bag is undoubtedly bizarre.”
