Hamas Releases Third Batch of Hostages

On Sunday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released the third batch of hostages from the Gaza Strip under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Israel.

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"Within the framework of the humanitarian truce, we handed over to the Red Cross 13 Israeli detainees, three Thais, and one Russian," Al-Qassam said. 

The Israeli occupation forces received from the International Committee of the Red Cross the 13 Israeli hostages, including four women and nine children.

On Sunday evening, the Palestine Liberation Organization's prisoners department published a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners released, including 21 from Jerusalem, one from the Gaza Strip, and the rest from the West Bank. All of them were children.

Mediation efforts have been intensified to extend the current ceasefire, according to Palestinian sources. Qatar and Egypt conveyed a draft agreement to Israel and Hamas on extending the ceasefire due to expire on Monday and facilitating a larger prisoner swap.

The discussions involved the release of 40 to 50 captives from Gaza, coupled with increased humanitarian aid flow into the strip to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he might agree to extend the truce by a few days if Hamas would free more hostages.

According to a statement from a Hamas representative on Sunday night, "Hamas is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond the four days that were initially agreed upon with Israel."