Hamas releases more hostages amid intense efforts to extend Gaza truce

Sixteen hostages have been released from captivity in Gaza, the Israeli military said, as diplomatic efforts continued to extend the truce further to allow for more exchanges.

- Jason Burke

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said late on Wednesday evening that two hostages with Russian citizenship had crossed into Egypt.

Later on Wednesday night, Israeli military radio said that 10 Israelis and four Thais had been handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza. The group included dual citizens with US, German and German nationality, Qatar said.

The releases came as 30 Palestinian prisoners were freed overnight, Israeli prison authorities said.

“During the night, 30 male and female security prisoners were released from a number of prison facilities,” the country’s prison service said in a statement.

The release included well-known activist Ahed Tamimi.

The first two Israeli hostages released were Yelena Trupanob, 50, and her mother, Irena Tati, a doctor aged 73, both Russian-Israelis who Hamas said had been released outside the framework of the Hamas-Israeli hostage deal, as a “tribute” to Vladimir Putin.

The other 10 Israeli hostages (five women and five children) were freed under a two-day extension to a ceasefire deal agreed last week. Thirty Palestinian prisoners were due to be freed from Israeli jails in return.

Joe Biden said the released hostages included an Israeli-American woman, Liat Beinin, 49, and said he had spoken to her mother and father.

“They’re very appreciative and things are moving well,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington. “She’ll soon be home with her three children,” he said.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement said earlier it had handed over several civilian hostages as part of an exchange deal, an apparent confirmation that not all the estimated 240 hostages seized in the 7 October raid into Israel were being held by Hamas.