Hamas and Israel have carried out a prisoner exchange deal under a ceasefire agreement that saw the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails and 20 Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, television channels announced that the first lot of seven captives had been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli military later confirmed that 13 more captives taken from Israel during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 were also transferred.
Later on Monday, Hamas’s military wing said it also planned to hand over the bodies of four dead captives later in the day.
The released Palestinians include some 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge, as well as 250 held in Israeli prisons. The news of the release was bittersweet for the loved ones of some freed prisoners, as 154 of them were forced into exile.
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