A truce in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Israel stretched into a fifth day on Tuesday as the two sides completed the release of Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians amid the extension of the ceasefire for two days.
12 hostages, including 10 Israelis, had returned home from the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday, including 9 women and 1 minor, Qatar and Israel confirmed. 30 Palestinians prisoners, all women and children, were, in turn, released from Israeli prisons late on Tuesday.
The White House and Qatari negotiators said on Monday the original four day pause in fighting, due to expire at 0500 GMT on Tuesday, had been extended for two more days. Qatar, Egypt, the US are now negotiating with Israel and Egypt for potential further extensions.
Israel said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released, providing some respite from its indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip which has killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Hamas - which captured more than 200 people during its surprise attack on Israel on October 7 - said it had sought to revise terms under which it would free hostages beyond the women and children it has already released.