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Berlin Welcomes Release of Gaza Hostages, Including Two Germans

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock looks on at a joint news conference with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis (not pictured) in Vilnius, Lithuania April 22, 2022. (Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock looks on at a joint news conference with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis (not pictured) in Vilnius, Lithuania April 22, 2022. (Reuters)
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Berlin Welcomes Release of Gaza Hostages, Including Two Germans

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock looks on at a joint news conference with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis (not pictured) in Vilnius, Lithuania April 22, 2022. (Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock looks on at a joint news conference with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis (not pictured) in Vilnius, Lithuania April 22, 2022. (Reuters)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed Monday the release of 11 Gaza hostages, including "two German teenagers" as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

"After 52 days of suffering and despair, their mother can hold them in her arms again. My thoughts are with the families who are still waiting in fear. We are doing everything we can so that they too can hold them in their arms," Baerbock posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The release of the two hostages on Monday brings the total number of German passport-holders released by Hamas to 10 -- four were released on Friday and four more on Saturday, AFP reported.

Baerbock also welcomed the announcement by Hamas of a truce extension, which she said would allow "precious time for our aid to reach the people of Gaza."

"And it's a glimmer of hope so we don't lose sight of what could happen: concrete steps towards a secure future for all the people in the region."

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Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Iran's police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

"The police commander... was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behaviour of staff," the police said, AFP reported.

"Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi's death depends on the medical examiner's final report.

The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

"The behaviour of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority," the statement added.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi "was killed under torture in the detention center".

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.