The Red Cross said late Monday that it had facilitated the release of two new hostages by transporting them out of Gaza.

Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, Abu Ubaida, was the first to announce the release. Egyptian state media reported shortly afterwards that two elderly female hostages had arrived at the Rafah border post, between Gaza and Egypt.

Israeli media, incl Haaretzpreviously cited unnamed sources as claiming that Hamas was considering releasing civilian hostages in exchange for fuel.

A Hamas spokesperson wrote in a post on Telegram that the release occurred for humanitarian reasons, after negotiations with Egypt and Qatar. Israeli authorities have not commented on the release.

The two women will now be taken to hospital, according to Reuters.

On Friday, two American hostages – mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan – were freed by Hamas. The two women released on Monday, both Israeli citizens, were from Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel – one of the places where Hamas brutally attacked civilians on October 7.

Dagbladet visited the kibbutz, where a quarter of the population was killed, disappeared or kidnapped, earlier this week. You can read more about it in the case below.

– Came to kill

• US President Joe Biden does not want to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas frees all the hostages. He made that clear when asked about the possibility of a ceasefire in a press conference on Monday evening.

– We have to free the hostages, then we can talk, Biden answered.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has expressed a different order of priorities. He believes that the first step that must be taken is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, to save the lives of civilians in Gaza.

The issue was also discussed at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday. Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands are among the countries that support a humanitarian ceasefire, while countries such as Germany and Austria oppose it.

• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the British Parliament on Monday afternoon that their investigation showed that the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza last week was “probably” caused by a missile launched from Gaza.

The blast sparked violent reactions around the world, and was described by Hamas as a turning point. The cause of the explosion is still unknown.

Hamas immediately spoke out and called the explosion an Israeli attack, while Israel claimed to have evidence that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group was behind the explosion. US authorities claim that their intelligence information leads to PIJ.

Independent analysis by the AP news agency, which has reviewed a number of video clips of the explosion, also suggests that the explosion was likely caused by a rocket launched from Gaza. BBCwho have studied the same thing, on the other hand, called the findings inconclusive.

Health authorities in Gaza said 471 people were killed in the explosion. This number has not been verified by independent sources.