A further 14 hostages are expected to be released on Saturday in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners during a four-day ceasefire.
The brief ceasefire between Israel and Hamas enters a second day, with an official in Egypt confirming that a list of additional hostages has been handed over to mediators as part of an ongoing exchange.
It is not yet clear whether non-Israelis will also be released on Saturday.
During the four-day delay, Hamas must release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel must release 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors.
According to the agreement, Hamas will release one Israeli hostage for every three prisoners released.
Palestinian youth have been jailed for petty crimes such as throwing stones. The women included several convicted of stabbing Israeli soldiers and others detained at West Bank checkpoints.
There are currently 7,200 Palestinians being held in Israel, including about 2,000 who have been detained since the war began, according to the human rights group Palestinian Prisoners Club.
The first group of 24 hostages – 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino citizen – were released by Hamas on Friday. In exchange, Israel released 39 Palestinians from prison.
Israel has announced that the ceasefire can be extended by one more day for every 10 more hostages released, which US President Joe Biden hopes will happen.
The UN said the pause in fighting allowed it to accept humanitarian aid convoys delivering food, water and medicine.
For the first time since the beginning of the war, the country managed to provide fuel in addition to cooking gas – just over 10 percent of the pre-war daily amount.
Israel has vowed to resume fighting as soon as the ceasefire ends.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry of Gaza’s Hamas-led government.
In the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, Hamas took 240 hostages.
Additional reporting from Reuters and AP
Source: I News
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