The Palestinian group Hamas has released six Israeli hostages as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The first two Israeli hostages were released in Rafah, while three others were released in Nuseirat. The sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, is a Bedouin Israeli with a history of mental illness. He had been held by Hamas since crossing into Gaza about 10 years ago.
According to media reports, Israel is set to release over 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Among them, 60 are serving long sentences, 50 are serving life terms, and 47 were re-arrested after their 2011 release in exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas has stated that it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire.
