Prisoner Swap
A Palestinian woman who thought her two sons had been killed by the Israeli occupation forces was shocked to discover that they were among those released Monday as part of the war cessation deal.
Egypt has been hosting intensive talks between Hamas and Israeli delegations since Monday, aimed at securing the release of all captives held by Hamas and ending the war in Gaza.
On Saturday, Hamas released six Israeli captives from Gaza: Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed, Tal Shoham, and Avera Mengistu, as part of the seventh prisoner swap under the agreement.
On Saturday, Hamas will release six living Israeli captives, double the number initially agreed upon in the swap. Khalil Al-Hayya said Israel, in return, will release Palestinian prisoners on the same day.
On Telegram, Hamas stated it will release three Zionist captives, including US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, and Yair Horn.
The captives are Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy.
In return, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners, with the next swap scheduled for next Saturday as part of the current initial phase of the agreement.
“A short while ago, IDF (Israeli army) and ISA (Shabak) forces accompanied returning hostage Agam Berger as she crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military stated in an announcement.
The Hamas delegation, headed by the Head of Hamas Shura Council Mohamed Darwish, is set to meet with officials in Egypt, the movement said in a statement.
The news channel reported that a total of 70 Palestinian prisoners, who were serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, will be transferred to Egypt before being exiled abroad, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement in the prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli media reported that the Gaza ceasefire agreement and prisoner swap deal are imminent and Israeli Ministries instructed to be ready for receiving the Israeli captives when released.
It has been reported that the first phase of the anticipated ceasefire agreement in Gaza is expected to last 42 days, with negotiations for subsequent phases set to begin 16 days after the ceasefire.
The negotiations will focus on new proposals led by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with active involvement from the United States, as stated by the anonymous source, who declined to disclose their name or nationality.
Egypt and Qatar will run a new round of negotiations in Cairo on Thursday, aiming to achieve calm and facilitate the exchange of detainees between Israel and Palestine’s Islamist group, Hamas.
McGurk was appointed Biden’s adviser after the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli war on October 7 and travelled to the Middle East previously to discuss the war.
Rashwan said that the exchange of detainees and prisoners will be carried out in the coming hours, including 11 Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the release of 33 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Thirteen Palestinian prisoners (women and minors under the age of 19) will be released on the first day of the 4-day truce at 4:00 p.m., while Hamas will release 13 Israeli female and minor captives.
The Foreign Ministry has expressed appreciation for the continuous efforts made by the United Nations special envoy for Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross to strike the deal.
