Jerusalem, Nov 24 (EFE).- Authorities on Friday released a list of 24 women and 15 terror-accused teenage boys to be freed in exchange for 13 Israeli hostages held by the Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza.
The exchange of captives is part of the four-day ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli army after a war that began on Oct.7.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said the 39 detainees from the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem would be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Israel’s Ofer Prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
They would be freed as soon as the hostages held by the Islamist group were handed over to the Israeli army, with the mediation of the Red Cross.
Although the 15 boys are convicted of terrorism, none of them have blood crimes on their record.
The first truce between Israel and Hamas came into force at 7 a.m. local time after more than a month and a half of the war, as part of an agreement for the release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian children and women prisoners.
The four-day ceasefire, which will also serve to deliver humanitarian aid to the war-battered enclave, could be extended to 10 days if Hamas hands over more hostages.
The society, a non-governmental organization working for detainees in Israeli prisons, said more than 3,100 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7
Israeli security forces say around 1,800 Palestinians have been arrested in the last six weeks.
The number includes those detained at their homes or at military checkpoints and those forced to surrender, the society said in a statement.
On Oct. 7, Hamas militants went on a rampage in Israel, killed more than 1,200 people, and kidnapped 240.
In retaliation, Israel launched an unprecedented military offensive against Hamas that has claimed more than 14,500 lives in Gaza, including more than 5,500 children. EFE
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