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Exchange of Prisoners Begins Between Israel and Palestinians
Israeli media announced that the International Red Cross received the second batch of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas, as part of the ongoing exchange process. Sources indicated that the prisoners were on their way to Israel after being handed over by the Red Cross team, after Israeli forces previously received the first batch consisting of seven prisoners.
According to Al Jazeera’s correspondent, Red Cross vehicles arrived in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to receive the prisoners, at a time when Hamas had announced the names of 20 Israeli prisoners to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire and exchange agreement. The movement confirmed that the release of these prisoners is part of the "Al-Aqsa Flood Deal," which involves the liberation of 20 living Israeli prisoners.
In an interview with Reuters, a participating official explained that convoys from the International Red Cross moved toward the prisoners' locations. He added that these 20 are considered the only living among 48 Israeli prisoners still held in Gaza. Most of these prisoners are from locations such as the Nova concert in southern Israel, as well as prisoners from residential communities and other captured soldiers, including Matan Angrist and Nimrod Cohen.
While Israel has given the green light to release prisoners in two batches, the implementation is expected to begin between 8:00 and 10:00 AM from several areas in Gaza. The prison service has completed its preparations according to the latest amendments to the list of prisoners.
Earlier, the Israeli government approved a modification to the list of prisoners to be released, including replacing prisoners who had previously been released and adding women among the prisoners. This increases the total number to 1,700 prisoners from Gaza. This comes as part of efforts to exchange detainees, amid concerns that the process of determining the burial sites of the killed prisoners may take a long time, especially after many sites were destroyed during Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
