Israel released this Tuesday 15 women and 15 children imprisoned in Israeli prisons after the release by the Islamist group Hamas of twelve hostages held captive in Gaza, on the fifth day of the hostage-for-prisoner exchange agreement in parallel to a temporary ceasefire.
The Israel Prison Service confirmed the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners, that they were detained in different prisons in the country and that they were released in the Ofer prison and the Jerusalem detention center.
“The Prison Service concludes the fifth round of prisoners within the framework of the operation to return the kidnapped to their homes,” a spokesperson for the agency announced in a statement.
The text included a detailed list of those released, among whom There are 17 residents of Jerusalem This -5 women and 12 minors- and 13 from different locations in the occupied West Bank such as Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah.
This announcement comes shortly after the Israeli Army announced that it had received 12 hostages – 10 Israeli women and two Thai citizens. released by the Islamist group Hamas.
The hostages They were handed over in the Gaza Strip to the Red Crosswho first took them to Egypt and then handed them over to Israeli troops.
After an initial medical check-up, the freed hostages were transferred to Israeli hospitals for undergo more tests and reunite with their families.
Fifth consecutive day of exchange of hostages for prisoners
Today’s releases mark the fifth consecutive day of exchanges of hostages for prisoners, within the framework of a temporary ceasefire agreement that came into force last Friday and thatafter agreeing yesterday on a two-day extensionwill extend until tomorrow.
Since Friday, Hamas has freed 60 Israeli hostages as part of the agreementin addition to 21 other foreigners, one of them with dual Russian-Israeli citizenship.
Israel, for its part, has released 180 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children, and is expected to release 30 more tomorrow.
The pact was mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United Stateswhich 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 launch 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 Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.