Hamas and allied group Islamic Jihad freed 12 hostages on Tuesday, bringing the total released since the truce began on Friday to 81. Those have been mostly Israeli women and children along with foreign citizens, Reuters reports.
The hostages — 10 Israeli women and two Thai citizens — were aged 17 to 84 and included a mother-daughter pair. All were given initial medical checks and then moved to Israeli hospitals where they were to meet their families.
A short time later, Israel released 30 Palestinians from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank and a Jerusalem detention centre.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, a semi-official organisation, said half were women and the remainder were teenage males. That brought the total number of Palestinians released under the truce to 180.
