20 Israeli women and children to be freed during two-day extension of truce – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

The deal was structured in such a way that Israel agreed to extend the truce one more day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas. Representatives of the Palestinian group, for their part, said they had received a list of Palestinian prisoners whom Israel was expected to release on Monday in exchange for hostages, NBC News reported. The list included three women and 30 children, Hamas officials said.

Monday’s release of the hostages was delayed because Hamas initially attempted to free several children without their mothers who were also detained in the Gaza Strip, Kirby said. He added that he did not know if the 11 freed hostages included two more American citizens detained in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is reportedly holding six male U.S. citizens and one man with a U.S. green card hostage.

Kirby expressed hope that the pause would continue, but explained that “this will depend on the release of additional hostages by Hamas.” When asked if President Biden had received any assurances from his colleagues that the Americans would be among the hostages freed on Monday, Kirby said the administration was hopeful they would be freed. However, the White House won’t know for sure until they are released and cross the border into Israel.

Earlier, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced the successful conclusion of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to extend the four-day truce between them for another two days.