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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said that it facilitated the release of 33 Palestinian prisoners from an Israeli prison to the West Bank as part of the Israel-Hamas four-day truce.
"We have now successfully facilitated the release of 33 Palestinian detainees from Ofer prison to Ramallah," the ICRC's Israel and Occupied Territories branch wrote on X on Friday. "We have managed to do so thanks to our neutral intermediary role," it added. According to the Israeli prison service, in total 39 Palestinian women and minors were released on Friday from three Israeli prisons: Damon, Megiddo, and Ofer, CNN reported. As part of the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the first group of Israeli hostages were handed over to the staff of the International Committee for the Red Cross. The release of 13 Israeli hostages, who are mothers and children, is the first of four expected stages. Notably, Hamas has agreed to release some 50 hostages, which include women and children over the four days of the truce with Israel. Hamas might eventually free more hostages, in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire by an extra day for each 10 Israeli hostages, according to The Times of Israel report. The released hostages are only a small group out of some 240 people held hostage by Hamas terrorists since October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The freed hostages who were first taken for checks at the Hatzerim airbase upon returning to Israel were airlifted to several different hospitals around the country where they arrived on Friday late at night and are being reunited privately with their families. The 11 freed hostages from Thailand and the Philippines have arrived at Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center in Be'er Yaakov for evaluation by medical staff, according to The Times of Israel. Whereas, according to The Times of Israel report, other hostages have arrived at the Ichilov, Sheba and Beilinson Hospitals. As per the news report, Israel is set to release 150 Palestinian prisoners held for terror offences. In return for 50 Israelis, all of the prisoners that will be released will be women and minors. The truce brokered by Qatar between Israel and Hamas went into effect at 7 am (local time) on Friday. The deal offers incentives for more hostage releases, with Israel agreeing to an extra day of truce for every ten additional hostages released by Hamas. The truce allows for an influx of fuel and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, marking the first cessation of fighting since the conflict began seven weeks ago when Hamas massacred roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians. (ANI)
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