Eight Hostages Released, Including Two Muslims

Hamas released two hostages on Thursday, and then another six several hours later. Among the eight were two Bedouin siblings, Aisha and Bilal Ziyadne, abducted from Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border. They are the first Arab Israelis freed since October 7. Five more Muslims, including Aisha and Bilal’s older brother Hamza and father Youssef, are believed to be among the remaining 136 hostages held by Hamas.

The Bedouins are a Muslim nomadic people who follow tribal traditions, including some witchcraft. They number about 131,000, mostly in the Negev desert of southern Israel and are considered nearly 100% unreached by the gospel of Christ. Hostage Youssef, a dairy farmer, is the main provider for the Ziyadne family. Together with his two wives, he has 18 children and 20 grandchildren.

Also released on Thursday was Shani Goren, 29, a teacher and youth counselor in Nir Oz. She is from the same kibbutz as the Yahalomi family, French-Israelis also taken hostage. Although the mother and two daughters somehow escaped, 12-year-old Eitan remained in Hamas custody. He was beaten by numerous people in Gaza, forced to watch video footage of the October 7 massacre, threatened by terrorists with rifles if he cried, and placed in a room alone for 16 days. (TOI, November 28) At last, about a month ago, he was reunited with other hostages from Nir Oz, including Shani, and she cared for him until his release on November 27.

Nili Margalit, a nurse at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, abducted from the same kibbutz as Shani and Eitan, is also free now. While in captivity, she used her nursing skills to care for the other hostages, “just like she always does,” said former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, also from Nir Oz. Yocheved was released October 23. (TOI, November 30)

The temporary ceasefire agreement, which has now ended, resulted in the release of 105 hostages taken by Hamas: 81 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals and 1 Filipino.

In exchange for these last eight hostages, Israel released another 30 Palestinian prisoners, bringing the total to 210 during the truce, all of them women and teens.

For more information on these eight and to pray for hostages by name, both those released and those still held by Hamas, refer to our Israel-Gaza page:

Pray for Israel, Gaza and Lebanon in These Trying Times

Lord, thank You for these who have been released. Please speak to them in powerful ways and heal their minds, hearts and bodies from the trauma they have experienced. Do it in such a way that they know it is You and are drawn into Your love, truth and mercy. Give them a hunger for You so intense they will seek You with all their hearts and find Jesus, the only One who can truly set them free. John 14:6, 8:32. We thank You, Lord, for your mercy in Eitan’s life, that You made the way for him to be reunited with a counselor who could take care of him for a month, even while still in captivity. We also thank You for Shani and Nili and the way You used them to help the hostages from Nir Oz. Have mercy on the children who have endured much. Open the way for them and all the hostages who have been released to receive the counseling and care they need, but especially to hear the good news and be saved. Bring Christian doctors, aid workers and counselors to them to show them Your love and the way to salvation. Give them dreams and visions to point them to You. Place Bibles in their hands. Lift the veil from their eyes and show them who You really are. Be near to those who are still held captive in Gaza. Let them feel Your presence and hear Your voice speaking tenderly to them. Tend to all their needs, comfort them with Your love, and show them Your salvation. Place Your angels around them, and make that shield visible to the terrorists who approach them. Invade the dreams of everyone in Hamas. Make them so repulsed by the atrocities they have seen and committed that they lay aside Islam and seek Jesus. Give hostages favor with their guards and give the guards courage to go against Hamas’ commands and do what is right. Single out those in Hamas whom You will turn from darkness to Light. Use them to courageously arrange the escape of many hostages, and shield and empower them as they carry out Your plans. Father God, we ask You for many miracles. May every Palestinian and every Hamas terrorist see that You alone are God and that You are GOOD. Turn their stomachs as You open their eyes to see the horrors of religion gone wrong. Prove Yourself the God of Love and how terrorism serves Satan, not God Almighty. Bring them to their knees in fear of the Lord and in surrender to Your love. Break their hearts for what breaks Yours and draw them up into Your arms to receive Christ as Savior before it’s too late. Lord, we ask You for the Ziyadne family. Please make a way for the good news of Your salvation to reach all of them in a way they can truly understand. Tear down every wall that has kept the Bedouins from believing in You, and awaken their whole tribe to Truth. Awaken all of Gaza. Awaken Israel. Awaken every member of Hamas. Awaken every hostage, every survivor, every soldier, every terrorist, every Palestinian, every Jew, every family to Your love. Don’t let even one more lost person caught up in this earthly battle die without hearing the good news of the sacrifice You paid so we can be free. Replace death with new LIFE, violence with PEACE, hatred with LOVE, grief with gladness. Yes, Lord, what the enemy has meant for evil use to bring forth great good. Bring forth a great church planting movement that spreads throughout Israel and Palestine and all throughout the Middle East, with millions turning to Christ. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.

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Mikaela Vincent, and her husband are missionaries who have served nearly three decades in one of the most dangerous countries in the world (See the map at our Persecuted Church page). If you would like to help their ministry at the Prayer Wall and around the world, please consider giving a donation or shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore this Christmas.

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