The Israeli Defence Forces has received a second list of hostages that are set to be released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday (Nov 25) under a truce deal, the office of Israel’s prime minister wrote in a statement on Friday.
Israeli security officials were reviewing the list of names which was not made public until the safe release of the hostages, the statement added.
Israel’s Hostage Coordinator Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch had passed on the information to the families of the captives, the statement said.
In a first batch of swap, Hamas freed a total of 24 hostages which included Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers who were handed over to Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing, the International Committee of the Red Cross.
On the other hand, Israel released 39 Palestinian women and minors, who were detained on various charges, under the deal brokered by Qatar to pause the fighting in Gaza.
Biden says there’s ‘a real chance’ of extending truce
United States President Joe Biden on Friday (Nov 24) said that the release of the first batch of hostages was just the beginning and that there were “real” chances of the temporary truce in Gaza being extended.
Beginning today, under the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, fighting in Gaza will halt for four days.
13 Israeli hostages have been released along with several Thai nationals.
And we expect that dozens more, including Americans, will be returned to their families.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 24, 2023
He also underlined that now was the time to “renew” the efforts to create a two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“This morning, I’ve been engaged with my team as we began the first difficult days of implementing this deal. It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well. Earlier this morning, 13 Israeli hostages were released, including an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six years old. Separately, several Thai nationals and Filipino nationals were also kidnapped by Hamas on the seventh, they were released as well,” Biden said.
(With inputs from agencies)
