Israel-Hamas war: 7th hostage-prisoner exchange complete

Israel’s prison authorities said they released 30 Palestinian prisoners overnight Thursday in the latest exchange as part of the truce deal with Hamas.

Their release followed the successful transfer of more Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity on Thursday.

In total, Hamas released eight hostages on Thursday. But another two Israeli-Russian dual nationals released on Wednesday were also taken into consideration when releasing 30 prisoners, according to Qatari mediators. 

Israel and Hamas had agreed on a three-to-one exchange ratio for these swaps.

The bulk of the prisoners were sent to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and were greeted jubilantly on the city’s streets.

It’s the seventh such exchange on consecutive nights under the terms of the truce.

In the early hours of Friday it was not clear if the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would be extended further.

Negotiations on further hostage releases that could prolong the accord were ongoing. 

Qatar, Egypt and the US helped broker the truce, originally for four days. It has subsequently been extended twice, first by two more days and then by another. 

Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Thursday that he was hoping talks would continue to bear fruit.