Israel on Friday released 39 Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement reached with Hamas earlier this week.
According to Palestinian officials, 24 women and 15 teenage males from the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Israel's Ofer Prison, on the West Bank.
The release coincides with the handover at the Egypt-Gaza border of 13 women and children from among some 240 people taken hostage by Hamas during the movement’s infiltration into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
After more than a month of ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip, a four-day cease-fire entered into force on Friday morning. The pause in the fighting is expected to bring the release of a total of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, as per the Qatari-mediated agreement announced on Wednesday. Prisoners and hostages will be released on each day of the pause, with the potential to extend it up to 10 days if more hostages are released.
At least 7,000 Palestinians, mostly from the West Bank, are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 2,070 in administrative detention, without charges, according to the Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer.
Addameer reports that more than 3,000 Palestinians have been arrested across the West Bank since Oct. 7 as part of an Israeli detention campaign, which the army claims is targeting wanted individuals and Hamas militants.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
