Released Palestinian prisoners arrive in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, in International Red Cross vehicles, as part of the four-day ceasefire agreement, November 24, 2023. Photo: Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency.
The Palestinian Resistance reported that it released 13 Israelis and seven foreigner hostages and handed them over to the Red Cross, as part of the temporary ceasefire agreement signed with the Israeli occupation. This is the second prisoners swap that has taken place as part of the truce signed on November 22.
The announcement was made by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas that administrates the Gaza Strip, late at night on Saturday, November 25. The delay in the prisoner exchange had raised uncertainty about the humanitarian pause that started on November 24.
Israeli occupation forces reported that the freed hostages are headed towards Kerem Shalom through Egypt. However, they provided a different number of people released: 13 Israeli citizens and four Thai nationals who were workers in Israel.
On Saturday, Hamas delayed the release of the second group of hostages, accusing Tel Aviv of violating the conditions of the agreement regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid to the northern Gaza Strip. The organization also accused the occupation of altering the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released. However, after mediation by Qatar and Egypt, the prisoner swap process was restarted and the temporary truce agreement holds for the time being.
Hamas Praises Contributions of China, Russia, and Arab Countries in Gaza Truce (+Prisoner Exchange)
On November 24, the Resistance had released 24 hostages, while Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women and children.
The agreement entails that the Palestinian Resistance will release 30 children and 20 women during the four-day ceasefire. In exchange, Israel will release 150 Palestinian women and children prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The truce also entails that the occupation entity will allow humanitarian aid to enter all regions of the Gaza Strip devastated by genocidal bombardment by the occupation that took the lives of more than 15,000 Palestinian civilians, wounded over 36,000, and displaced one million.
Tel Aviv estimates that some 215 Israelis captured by Hamas on October 7 remain in the Gaza Strip, however, Hamas announced in a statement that at least 60 of them died in the indiscriminate Israeli bombardment.
According to MEMO, the Israeli Prison Service announced on Saturday that it had received an additional list of the names of 42 Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the second round of the prisoner swap deal.
“We received a list of the names of 42 Palestinian prisoners who will be released today, Saturday,” the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing a statement issued by the Prison Service.
“The prisoners will be transferred at approximately 1:30 p.m. (11:30GMT) to Ofer Prison in the West Bank, where they will be identified by the Red Cross and await the arrival of the Israelis,” the statement added.
(Sputnik) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
