The Palestinian movement Hamas will release 20 Israeli hostages during the two-day extension of the humanitarian truce, announced the spokesman of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Muhammad al-Ansari.
He told reporters that a list of those who will be released has already been handed over to the conflicting parties.
“It has been confirmed that 20 Israeli hostages will be released during the two additional days of the humanitarian truce, and the list of those who will be released today has already been handed over to the conflicting parties. We have no information on the number of hostages who are still in the Gaza Strip,” Ansari stressed.
Ansari added that during the four-day humanitarian break, 69 hostages kidnapped by Hamas and 150 Palestinians who were in Israeli prisons were freed.
Qatar has announced that the humanitarian pause in Gaza, which was previously agreed between Hamas and Israel, has been extended for two more days.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Majed Al-Ansari, stated in a statement that as a result of mediation between Hamas and Israel, an agreement was reached to extend the humanitarian pause.
Hamas also confirmed in a statement on its Telegram account that an agreement was reached with Qatar and Egypt to extend the humanitarian break for two more days under the same conditions as the previous agreement.
A four-day humanitarian pause between Hamas and Israel took effect on Friday, November 24, at 07:00 local time.
Under the agreement, 150 Palestinians in Israeli prisons will be released in exchange for 50 Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.
As part of the agreement, 40 Israeli women and children have so far been released from the Gaza Strip, and 117 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Israel launched brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7.
Since then, at least 14,854 Palestinians have been killed, including 6,150 children and more than 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave. The official death toll in Israel is 1,200, AA reports.