Netanyahu's office confirms release of 13 Israeli captives who arrived in Israel

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin confirmed at midnight Saturday the release of 13 Israeli hostages in the second batch of a prisoner swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

"The Government of Israel embraces the 17 hostages who are returning to Israel today," said a statement by Netanyahu's office. It said that "13 of our citizens and four Thai nationals, who are en route to Israeli territory."

The statement reiterated the Israeli stance and commitment to releasing all "hostages and missing" in Gaza.

The Israeli army said the released hostages "are in Israeli territory, and are being escorted by (Israeli) special forces."

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed the completion of the release of 17 captives (Israelis and Thai nationals) who were held in Gaza.

The Palestinian side is waiting for Israeli authorities to release 39 Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails as part of the deal.

Israel and Hamas swapped 24 Israelis and foreigners for 39 Palestinians from Israeli jails on Friday, the first day of the four-day humanitarian pause, by which the second batch of prisoners are to be completed.

Under the agreement, the hostages and prisoners will be released in batches during the course of four days.

Israel launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
It has since killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar