Hamas releases two Israeli captives in Gaza, third to be freed shortly

The Palestinian group Hamas has released two of three Israeli captives in the latest stage of a gradual exchange under a ceasefire deal that ended the 15-month Israeli genocide in Gaza.

French-Israeli national Ofer Kalderon and Israeli citizen Yarden Bibas were handed over to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Al Jazeera TV showed on Saturday.

American-Israeli national Keith Siegel is set to be released in Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave later on Saturday.

Israel will free 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth such exchange as part of the ceasefire deal entered on January 19.

Also on Saturday, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is likely to be reopened to allow seriously-injured Palestinians to finally get treatment.

More to come…

Source

:

Al Jazeera and news agencies