Nov. 28 (UPI) — Another 10 Israeli hostages were set to be freed in the coming hours as day one of a two-day extension of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas got underway Tuesday, according to authorities.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had received a list of the names of those being released and that their families had been informed.
Israeli authorities also issued a release list of 30 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, in line with the truce agreement which calls for three Palestinians to be freed in exchange for each hostage released, Israel Army Radio said in a post on X.
Tuesday’s release will leave about 170 Israelis held hostage in Gaza with Hamas saying it has another 10 it could release Wednesday, day two of the truce extension.
A further two-day extension is possible as the deal brokered by Qatar calls for extending the truce by one day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but Hamas says it does not have all the hostages, some of whom are being held by other armed groups.
Those groups include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a senior Hamas source in Qatar told the BBC.
While there has been no official comment from Israel, Qatari mediators hope they can build on the extension to secure the release of more captives and “prepare the ground for a more sustainable truce,” according to Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman.
Welcoming the extension, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the additional pause in the fighting would allow more critically needed humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
The Palestine Red Cross said its crews were able to get another 40 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza City and other areas in the north of the strip Monday, bringing to approximately 200 the number of aid trucks that have reached the war-torn north.
The 11 Israelis released late Monday included 3-year-old twin girls Yuli and Emma Cunio and mother Sharon Aloni-Cunio, 34, and three members of another family, Karina Engel-Bart, 51; Mika Engel, 18; and Yuval Engel, 12, the prime minister’s office said in a post on X.
Also freed Tuesday were Eitan Yahalomi, 12; Sahar Calderon, 16; Erez Calderon, 12; Or Yaakov, 16; and Yagil Yaakov, 12.
The Cunios were abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel on Oct. 7 along with David Cunio, Sharon Aloni-Cunio’s husband and father of the twins, who is still being held. Sharon’s sister, Daniele Aloni, and her 6-year-old daughter Emilia, were both released Friday.
All 11 have been reunited with their families back on Israeli soil.
Thirty-three Palestinians — 30 children and three women released by Israel in exchange — arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank early Tuesday.
