[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

A LINE OF BUSES CARRYING PALESTINIAN PRISONERS LEFT A PRISON IN THE WEST BANK ON THURSDAY AFTER THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DELAYED THEIR RELEASE. THE BUSES HEADED TOWARD THE CITY OF RAMALLAH WHERE RELATIVES WAITED AND WERE READY TO CELEBRATE.
THE PRISONER SWAP ENTAILS ISRAEL RELEASING 110 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS IN EXCHANGE FOR HAMAS FREEING ISRAELI HOSTAGES IN GAZA. IT WAS THE THIRD-ROUND OF EXCHANGES SINCE A CEASE FIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS WAS REACHED, LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AGO.
EARLIER, PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU PUT THE RELEASE OF 110 PALESTINIANS PRISONERS ON-HOLD, AS HE DEMANDED THE SAFE EXIT FOR ISRAELI HOSTAGES GOING FORWARD. LATER, NETANYAHU SAID HE RECEIVED THAT COMMITMENT AND ISRAELI MEDIA REPORTED THE PALESTINIAN RELEASES WOULD GO FORWARD.
HAMAS RELEASED MORE THAN A HALF-DOZEN HOSTAGES EARLIER IN THE DAY, INCLUDING FEMALE SOLDIER, 20-YEAR-OLD AGAM BERGER IN NORTHERN GAZA.
HOURS LATER, HUNDREDS OF MILITANTS FROM HAMAS AND THOUSANDS OF WATCHERS GATHERED IN THE CITY OF KHAN YOUNIS, TO WITNESS THE RELEASE OF FEMALE HOSTAGE ARBEL YEHOUD, ALONG WITH 80-YEAR-OLD GADI MOSES AND FIVE THAI LABORERS.
YEHOUD HAD BEEN AT THE CENTER OF A DISPUTE EARLIER IN THE WEEK OVER THE ORDER IN WHICH THE HOSTAGES WOULD BE RELEASED. THE UNITED STATES, EQYPT AND QATAR, BROKERED THE AGREEMENT, SO THAT SHE WOULD BE RELEASED ON THURSDAY.
NETANYAHU HAS CALLED ON INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF HOSTAGES IN FUTURE RELEASES.
THIS IS THE STILL PHASE ONE OF THE CEASE FIRE, WHICH CALLS FOR HAMAS TO RELEASE 33 ISRAELI HOSTAGES IN EXCHANGE FOR NEARLY 2000 PALESITINIAN PRISONERS. ISRAELI FORCES HAVE ALSO PULLED BACK FROM MOST OF GAZA ALLOWING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO RETURN TO WHAT’S LEFT OF THEIR HOMES SINCE THE WAR BROKE OUT IN OCTOBER OF 2023. ISRAEL AND HAMAS STILL MUST NEGOTIATE THE **SECOND PHASE** WHICH CALLS FOR THE TERROR GROUP TO RELEASE THE REMAINING ISRAELI HOSTAGES, THE CEASE-FIRE WOULD THEN CONTINUE. FOR MORE UNBIASED UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP