Israel announced this Tuesday that ten Israeli hostages and two Thais were freed by the Islamist group Hamas and transferred to Israeli territory, on the fifth day of the agreement to exchange hostages for prisoners in parallel to a temporary ceasefire.
“According to information provided by the Red Cross, twelve hostages – including ten Israelis and two foreigners – are on their way to Israeli territory,” the Israeli Army said in a statement.
The military spokesperson added shortly after that the hostages had been handed over in
Gaza to the Red Cross, which first took them to Egypt and then handed them over to Israeli troops.
After an initial medical check-up, the freed hostages are now being transferred to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families.
Based on the agreement with HamasIsrael is now scheduled to proceed with the release of a group of 30 Palestinian prisoners. The prisoners released this Tuesday will be 15 women and 15 minors, according to Hamas in a statement.
(Also read: The United States hopes that the truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended for more days)
A group of hostages’ relatives identified two of the freed hostages as two women with dual citizenship Argentine-Israeli: Ofelia Roitman, 77, and Gabriela Leimberg, 59.
This Tuesday’s releases mark the fifth consecutive day of exchange of hostages for prisoners, within the framework of a temporary ceasefire agreement that came into force last Friday and for which a two-day extension was agreed.
Since Friday, Hamas has released 60 Israeli hostages as part of the deal, in addition to 21 other foreigners, one of them a dual Russian-Israeli citizen. Israel, for its part, has released 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children, and is expected to release 60 more between this Tuesday and Wednesday.
(You can read: Israeli soldier who was taken hostage by Hamas speaks publicly for the first time)
The pact was mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, which this Tuesday continued efforts to extend the truce for a few more days..
Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7 following an attack by the Islamist group, which included the launching of more than 4,000 rockets and the infiltration of some 3,000 militants, who killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 240 in nearby Israeli communities. to the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s air, naval and ground forces have since attacked the Palestinian enclave, where more than 15,000 people have already died, according to Palestinian authorities, most of them children and women, and it is estimated that more than 7,000 people are missing under the rubble.
EFE
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