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As part of a prisoner exchange deal, the Hamas movement released on Monday the second batch of Israeli hostages in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, numbering 13. The International Red Cross received them, which in turn handed them over to Israel.

Earlier this morning, the process of exchanging Palestinian prisoners for hostages began in the Gaza Strip, where the Red Cross received 7 live Israeli hostages as a first batch, while the rest will be received within the next few hours.

The Israeli army confirmed that 7 hostages released by Hamas crossed into Israel’s borders, indicating that others will be released later.

Thus, Hamas handed over all 20 living hostages.

Israeli Channel 12 confirmed that there are no more living hostages in the hands of Hamas.

The Red Cross had handed over the released hostages to the Israeli authorities, and also supervised the release of Palestinian prisoners and their transfer to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The delivery process took place in a closed place, away from cameras.

At the same time, an official participating in the operation told Reuters, “All 1,966 Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released today, Monday, boarded buses inside Israeli prisons. The official reported that 1,716 Palestinians will be released from Gaza at the Nasser Medical Complex in the Strip today, as well as the release of 250 Palestinians who were serving life sentences in Israeli prisons to the West Bank and Jerusalem and abroad today.”

Clips of phone calls made by the hostages’ families before their release were circulated, indicating that Hamas allowed the hostages to communicate with their families before their release. A video clip showed a call that took place between an Israeli mother and her prisoner son, who was released as part of the first batch of the exchange.

This announcement comes after Hamas published a list of 20 hostages, saying it would release them, and more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners it said Israel would release, within the framework of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The Hamas Prisoners’ Information Office announced that 154 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and will be deported to other countries.

In addition, US President Donald Trump arrived today in Israel for a short visit, following the return of Israeli hostages alive to Israel after their release from the Gaza Strip.

The visit comes shortly after the US President said that the war “ended” in Gaza while he headed to Israel and then Egypt, where he will chair a “peace summit” in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

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