Twelve additional hostages were released from Gaza detention on Tuesday in exchange for Palestinian inmates as mediators attempted to bring the seven-week Israel-Hamas conflict to a close.
The Israeli prime minister’s office reported ten Israelis and two Thais were released, with the army reporting they were handed over to the Red Cross and were “inside Israeli territory.”
Following the truce agreement, Israel’s jail services announced the release of 30 Palestinian captives.
An AFP journalist witnessed hooded and armed fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad hand over detainees to Red Cross workers in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
International officials lauded the cease-fire and release of hostages as a sign of optimism in the crisis caused by deadly Hamas attacks that provoked an Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the extended stop in incidents, while Qatari authorities mediating the dispute maintained this did not derail the truce.
As a two-day truce extension appeared to be holding Tuesday, US and Israeli intelligence officials were in Doha, Qatar’s capital, to discuss the “next phase” of the agreement, according to a source briefed on their visit.
Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said Tuesday’s liberated Israelis included nine women and a girl. A Filipina dual national and two Argentine dual nationals were among them.
When the latest truce expires on Thursday, Israel and Hamas are under international pressure not to resume full-fledged fighting.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two Thai citizens were released alongside the ten Israelis.
The cease-fire halted combat that began on October 7 when Hamas militants crossed into Israel, murdering 1,200 people, largely civilians, and capturing approximately 240.
According to the Hamas administration in Gaza, Israel’s retaliatory ground and air offensive has killed around 15,000 Palestinians, predominantly civilians.