(CNN) – Qatar announced, on Monday, that 33 Palestinians will be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of 11 hostages holding dual citizenship from Gaza.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said in a post on his account on the X platform (formerly Twitter): “Within the framework of the obligations of the fourth day of the armistice agreement, 33 Palestinian civilians will be released today in exchange for the release of 11 Israeli detainees from Gaza.”
He continued: “Those released from Israeli prisons include 30 minors and 3 women, while the Israelis released from Gaza include 3 French nationals, 2 German nationals, and 6 Argentines who were handed over to the Red Cross.”
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed, via “X”, that the three French-Israeli citizens had been released, saying: “Three of our young citizens were part of the group of hostages freed today. I am very happy with this announcement,” and added: “We are still in a state of emergency.” “Full alert to free all hostages.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced, via Ex, the release of dual German citizens, and said: “11 more hostages, including two German teenagers, have been released after 52 days of suffering and despair. I am thinking of the families who still feel fear, and we are doing our best.” We will do our best to ensure they are able to embrace their loved ones again.”
The Israeli embassy in Argentina also confirmed the release of 6 Argentines who hold dual Israeli citizenship.
In Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Health said that all the Israeli hostages who were released on Monday arrived at the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, which is the largest intensive care facility in Israel.
The Ministry of Health added, in a statement, that “the families of the hostages are waiting in the hospital to be reunited for the first time in about 52 days.”
The Israeli Prison Service announced that 33 Palestinians had been released from several Israeli prisons, and this came after the release of the hostages by Hamas.
For its part, Hamas published a video showing scenes of the hostages being handed over to Red Cross officials, and the video was published on social media.
CNN was not present at any of the locations where filming took place and had no control over the content.
With the hostage release operation that took place on Monday, Hamas has released 69 hostages so far, most of whom are women and children.
In return, Israel released 150 Palestinians from prisons, most of them women and minors, many of whom were detained but were not charged.
It is noteworthy that the exchange came as the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that an agreement had been reached to extend the humanitarian truce in Gaza for two additional days, coinciding with the approaching end of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas.
In a brief statement, Hamas announced that “it was agreed with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for two additional days under the same conditions as the previous truce.”
This announcement comes after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a phone call with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Monday, according to an informed source.
Egypt said earlier that there were ongoing efforts to extend the truce for two days.
The basic agreement between Israel and Hamas included a four-day truce, to secure the release of a number of Israeli detainees in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and allowing fuel and humanitarian aid to reach the Strip in larger quantities.
Israeli and American officials had said that the truce could be extended for an additional day whenever Hamas releases at least 10 detainees in Gaza.
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2023-11-28 03:07:37
