Hamas releases 12 more hostages on first day of extended truce deal

Civilians and rescuers look for survivors following Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis. Pics/AFP

Hamas on Tuesday released 12 more hostages including two foreign nationals on the first day of the extended truce between Israel and Hamas, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The hostages mainly include the elderly and certain family members.

Meanwhile, an additional two Thai citizens were released by Hamas on Tuesday. Moreover, Israel has confirmed the identities of these ten hostages, according to the Jerusalem Post. One of the hostages included Ditza Heiman, an 81-year-old woman who locked herself in the safe room during the Hamas attacks on October 7.

On October 7, as Hamas launched hundreds of rockets towards Israel, Tamar Metzger, 78, along with her husband Yoram, 80, went into their bomb shelter on Kibbutz Nir Oz has also been released today. According to the Jerusalem Post, Noralin Babadilla Agojo, 60, and her partner, Gidon Babani, were visiting friends in Kibbutz Nirim to celebrate their 70th anniversary when Hamas attacked Israel.

Gidan was tragically killed; however, Noralin was abducted by Hamas and taken to Gaza. Since Friday, over 50 Israeli hostages have been released as part of an initial four-day truce agreement, The Times of Israel reported.

According to the initial truce agreement, Israel agreed to halt its military operations in Gaza for four days and emphasised that it would release three Palestinian security prisoners for each of the 50 hostages freed from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.

Further, Hamas also released 17 Thais, one Philippines national and one dual Russian-Israeli national. However, on Tuesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the temporary truce by two days, paving the way for the release of some 20 more people held hostage by the terror group.

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