breaking news: Hamas releases first Gaza captives amid truce

 

Who is being freed? Let’s bring you up to speed

Here’s what you need to know about the release of Palestinian prisoners and captives held in Gaza:

• Qatar confirms the release of 39 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails as part of a negotiated truce between Hamas and Israel.
• The group has been transferred to Offer Prison in the occupied West Bank, where families gathered outside are waiting anxiously for their return home.
• Qatar also confirms the release of 13 Israelis, including dual nationals, under the same truce.
• The mediating country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also says 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino have been freed in Gaza outside the framework of the truce.
• The Red Cross confirms the release of the 24 civilian captives in Gaza.
• Under the truce, a total of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and 50 captives held in Gaza are to be released over a four-day period that will see a pause in fighting.

‘Tremendous relief’: Red Cross confirms safe release of 24 captives

“We have facilitated this release by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah border, marking the real-life impact of our role as a neutral intermediary between the parties,” the organisation said on X.

“It’s a tremendous relief that after enduring weeks of distress, they can finally reunite with their families.”

Qatar says ’39 women and children’ released from Israeli jails

The spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the release of “39 women and children” from Israeli prisons.

In a post on X, al-Ansari said this is in accordance with commitments agreed upon for the first day of the truce.

Palestinian prisoners from three Israeli jails were transported to Ofer military prison near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah

Crowd awaiting released Palestinians suppressed by Israeli forces

Reporting from outside Ofer prison, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford says Israeli forces have fired volleys of tear gas at the “hundreds if not thousands of people gathered in expectation” of the release of 39 Palestinian women and teenage boys outside the incarceration facility in the occupied West Bank.