Israel releases 30 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 10 Israeli hostages, according to mediator Qatar.
Hamas has freed 12 more hostages, the Israeli army and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced, as an uneasy truce continues in Gaza.
The ICRC said it facilitated the release and transfer of 12 hostages out of Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, the fifth day of an extended six-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian armed group in Gaza.
The Israeli military said 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals had arrived in Israel.
In exchange for the release of the 10 Israelis, 30 Palestinian prisoners were later released from Israeli jails, according to Qatar, a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas deal.
The agreement provides for the possibility of extending the truce in exchange for the release of 10 additional captives each day.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club announced that 15 women and 15 minors would be released.
Among them was Ahmad Salayme, 14.
“On the first day of the war, there were a number of beatings, detainees were beaten,” Salayme said in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune’s Mohammed Jamjoom.
“They told me not to celebrate and on the day of my release, I am not allowed to leave my house, hold signs or banners, or use a megaphone,” he added. “And if I break any of these rules, I will be recaptured.”
“We are very happy but our happiness is incomplete because we mourn those who are lost, those who are injured and those who are missing,” he said, referring to Palestinians in Gaza.
Before his arrival, the boy’s relatives, friends and journalists huddled silently in the living room of Ras al-Amoud, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem, while Israeli security forces were outside.
Israeli authorities have warned the families of Palestinian women and children released under the Gaza truce not to celebrate their return home.
Qatar said that of the 10 Israelis released, there were nine women and one minor. One of the released persons has Austrian nationality, two have Argentinian nationality and one has Filipino nationality.
About 240 prisoners were captured when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Dozens of hostages have since been freed, the vast majority thanks to the Israel-Hamas deal which is set to expire early Thursday.
In addition to the exchanges, the agreement includes a cessation of hostilities in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the territory that Israel bombed and besieged for more than seven weeks.
More than 15,000 people were killed in Israeli air and ground attacks, including more than 6,000 children, according to Palestinian officials. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in a disastrous humanitarian context.
