Israel-Gaza war: Second group of hostages to be released from Gaza

Gaza - Another 14 hostages who have been held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for the past seven weeks are due to be released on Saturday as part of a deal with Israel.

Israeli security forces are seen outside Ofer military prison located between Ramallah and Baytunia in the occupied West Bank city amid preparations for the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza on November 25, 2023.
Israeli security forces are seen outside Ofer military prison located between Ramallah and Baytunia in the occupied West Bank city amid preparations for the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza on November 25, 2023.  © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

Egypt's government has received a list of the 14 names of Israeli hostages from the Islamist militant group Hamas and the Red Cross, DPA learned on Saturday from Egyptian security sources.

Egyptian authorities have also received a list from the Red Cross naming 42 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons who will be released in return, the Egyptian source told DPA on condition of anonymity. The Palestinian prisoners include 24 women and 18 teenage minors.

Israel will initially transfer the detainees to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank for medical examinations by International Red Cross staff, according to Israeli media reports.

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The exchanges come on the second day of a planned four-day truce between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza that was brokered by Qatar.

On Friday, Hamas released the first group of 24 hostages, including 13 Israeli citizens and 11 foreign nationals. In return, Israel released a larger group of Palestinian detainees from its prisons.

As a condition of the agreement, Hamas militants must first release Israeli hostages being held in Gaza before the Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli custody, according to Israeli media reports.

Hostage exchange continues amid temporary truce in Israel-Gaza war

Israeli security forces stand next to an ambulance as medical staff prepare for the arrival of Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip outside Ramat Gan's Sheba medical center in the Tel Aviv district on November 25, 2023.
Israeli security forces stand next to an ambulance as medical staff prepare for the arrival of Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip outside Ramat Gan's Sheba medical center in the Tel Aviv district on November 25, 2023.  © JACK GUEZ / AFP

A diplomatic source told DPA that a delegation of Qatari officials tasked with monitoring the terms of the agreement arrived in Israel on Saturday.

The team should ensure that "the deal continues to run smoothly and discuss further details of the current agreement," the diplomat told DPA.

Qatar and Egypt are both considered important mediators in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas. Qatar maintains close and extensive contacts with Hamas, although Qatar does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

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Trucks carrying humanitarian supplies also crossed into the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. Seven fuel trucks, including four loaded with cooking gas, passed through the crossing, an Egyptian official said.

Another 100 trucks carrying food and medical aid bound for Gaza also crossed through Rafah, Dr Raed Abdel-Nasser, the head of the Red Crescent in Egypt's northern Sinai, told DPA.

The Israeli hostages who were returned to Israel on Friday have been taken to hospitals near Tel Aviv and reunited with their families. Four children, three mothers, and a grandmother arrived "in the best and most caring hands" at the Schneider Children's Medical Centre, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted the director of the facility, Efrat Baron Har Lev, as saying.

"Their physical condition is good," the director added.

"There was not a dry eye in the house" when the hostages were reunited with their families, said a director of the Israeli Ministry of Health, Shoshy Goldberg, at a press conference at the center, according to CNN.

Cover photo: Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

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