Hamas releases 12 hostages, Israel 30: Ceasefire still holding

(Patria) - Twelve hostages released from captivity in the Gaza Strip, ten Israelis and two foreigners, arrived in Israel last night, the army announced, as reported by agencies.

"The released hostages are... within Israeli territory," the army said in a statement on the fifth day of the pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The hostages released from Gaza include twelve people, including ten Israelis, a minor, and nine women, announced the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al Ansari, on X. In addition to two Thai nationals, Ansari specified that the Israeli hostages being released are dual citizens: two Argentinians, an Austrian, and a Filipina.

In return, the Israeli Prison Service announced that it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli prisons late on Tuesday. In a statement, the prison service stated that they were released from Ofer prison, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and from a detention center in Jerusalem.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Tuesday that it had completed the release of eleven Palestinian prisoners from Israel and transferred them to Ramallah. The number announced by the ICRC usually includes only those for whom the organization was directly responsible for the release. Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, announced on Tuesday on their Telegram channel that they had handed over "some civilian prisoners" as part of an exchange deal with Israel.

By Monday evening, Hamas had released 50 Israeli hostages, as well as 19 foreigners, mostly Thai farmers. Israel has so far released 150 prisoners before Tuesday's move. The ceasefire brought a respite to Gaza after seven weeks of intense Israeli bombing triggered by Hamas's attack. The ceasefire was supposed to expire on Tuesday night, but both sides agreed to extend the pause to allow for the release of more people on both sides.