WHO concerned about Israeli hostages, calls for immediate release of all hostages

GENEVA: World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern on Wednesday about the situation of Israeli hostages in Gaza and further called for the immediate release of all the hostages.

Taking on his social media 'X', Tedros stressed, "We continue to be gravely concerned about the condition of the hostages taken from #Israel on 7 October - particularly the children, women, older people, and those with health conditions who need immediate medical attention."

We continue to be gravely concerned about the condition of the hostages taken from #Israel on 7 October - particularly the children, women, older people, and those with health conditions who need immediate medical attention. @WHO, once again, calls for the immediate release of…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 1, 2023

Adding to this, he said that the WHO "once again calls for the immediate release of all the hostages."

According to the latest updates, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that the number of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza is up to 240.

Additionally, he said 315 IDF soldiers have died since Hamas' attack in Israel on October 7, CNN reported. On Monday, the IDF completed its first successful hostage extrication since October 7.

The IDF rescued an Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hamas. Meanwhile the New York Times quoting a Pentagon's top special operations policy official, has reported that American commandos on the ground in Israel are helping locate the more than 200 hostages seized during Hamas's cross-border attacks on Oct. 7.

"We're actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things," Christopher P. Maier, an assistant secretary of defence, told a special operations conference in Washington. He said that a main task was to help Israel "identify hostages, including American hostages. It's really our responsibility to do so."

According to the New York Times, the Pentagon has not specified as to how many US Special forces were currently deployed in Israel. Earlier as the ground operations by IDF intensified, IDF fighter jets eliminated Ibrahim Biari, Commander of Hamas' Central Jabaliya Battalion.

IDF said that Biari was one of the leaders responsible for the murderous terror attack on October 7th. The strike damaged Hamas' command and control in the area and eliminated a large number of terrorists who were with Biari.

Additionally, underground terrorist infrastructure collapsed following the strike. The IDF say it has reiterated its call to the residents of the area to move south for their safety.