ALBAWABA - The Israeli prison service reported receiving a list of 39 additional Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 14 Israeli hostages in the third batch of the hostage exchange deal with Hamas.
Earlier today, 13 Israelis and 4 Thai nationals arrived in Israel on Sunday in the second release of hostages from Hamas captivity in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in a deal briefly endangered by a dispute about aid delivery into Gaza, Reuters reported.
"The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
On the Palestinian side, hundreds of relatives of the prisoners had gathered in front of the gate to the Ofer military prison and the Al-Bireh Municipality Square since the early evening of Saturday to await the release of their sons and daughters from Israeli prisons.
A number of delays hampered the fragile truce deal, as Hamas said that the aid deliveries permitted by Israel fell short of what was promised and that not enough of the aid was reaching northern Gaza.
The delay threatened to halt what counts as weeks of mediation between Hamas and Israel to allow the entry of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza in exchange for releasing Israeli hostages and temporarily stopping all military operations in the besieged strip.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said "This is putting the deal in danger and we have spoken to mediators about that,".
Al-Aqsa Flood operation against Israel
Hamas military group announced on Oct. 7 a military operation called "Al-Aqsa Flood" against Israel which is the biggest offensive in decades.
Palestinian fighters “infiltrated” Israel from the Gaza Strip and captured military bases and took hostages as photos and videos went viral online showing Hamas fighters on vehicles inside Israel and others paragliding into occupation territory.
In response, Israeli armed forces announced targeting Hamas positions inside the Gaza Strip. Thousands were killed, and dozens of thousands of others were injured in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
