Israel receives 12 hostages from Hamas, releases 30 Palestinians from prisons amid extended truce

Israeli troops and Hamas briefly exchange fire in Gaza but no further escalation.
Hamas freed 12 more hostages and Israel released 30 more imprisoned Palestinians on Tuesday, the fifth day of an extended six-day truce between the militant Palestinian group and Israel in the Gaza war.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the 12 hostages had been transferred from Gaza, and Israel’s military confirmed that the 10 Israeli citizens and two foreign nationals were with its special forces on Israeli territory.
The hostages were among some 240 people seized by Hamas gunmen during a rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, including several Canadians Israel said it freed 30 Palestinian detainees from Ofer and a detention centre in Jerusalem. Earlier it said they would be 15 women and 15 teenage males, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, a semi-official organization. Al Jazeera said the Palestinians had arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem.
A spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, which is mediating in the conflict, said the freed Israeli hostages included nine women and one minor. Some of the hostages were handed over by the Al Quds