GAZA,(The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)The prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and the Israeli occupation regime went into effect on Monday morning a few days after a ceasefire agreement was brokered and announced by Qatar, Egypt, Türkiye, and the US.
According to media sources, the Israeli army has received the first seven captives after al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal. Thirteen more living captives are due to be released later today.
Under the deal, Hamas will release the 20 living Israeli captives in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, many without charge.
A Hamas source earlier told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli captives had been moved to three locations in the enclave in advance of their transfer to the ICRC.
An official involved in the exchange told Reuters that all the Palestinian prisoners due to be released had already boarded buses at Israeli prisons.
Reuters quoted the official as saying that today, 1,716 Palestinians from Gaza are expected to be released and transferred to Nasser Hospital in the Strip, while 250 others serving life sentences in Israeli jails will be released to the West Bank, Jerusalem, and abroad.
Al-Qassam Brigades published on Monday the names of the 20 Israeli captives to be released under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
According to Reuters, the names include Bar Abraham Kupershtein, Evyatar David, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Segev Kalfon, Avinatan Or, Elkana Bohbot, Maxim Herkin, Nimrod Cohen, Matan Angrest, Matan Zangauker, Eitan Horn, Eitan Abraham Mor, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Rom Braslavski, Ariel Cunio, and David Cunio.
