Israel, Hamas complete third hostage swap

(VOVWORLD) - Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners after a brief delay to protest the chaos surrounding the handover of hostages by Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on social media that following his demand, mediators delivered a commitment that a safe exit will be guaranteed for Israeli hostages in the next round of swaps.

The five-hour delay does not seem to have had an impact on the six-week ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which paused the conflict in Gaza after 15 months of fighting that devastated the Palestinian territory. Given the issue was quickly resolved, the next hostage-prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as scheduled on Saturday.

The Palestinian prisoners were meant to be freed after the return of three Israeli and five Thai hostages from Gaza.

The first stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect almost two weeks ago and requires the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages – some of whom are dead – in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. So far, 10 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been freed in exchange for 400 Palestinian prisoners.

The next stage is meant to include agreements on a permanent end to the conflict  and on the release of all remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners.

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