CAIRO, November 28. /TASS/. Islamic Jihad, a radical Palestinian group, said on Tuesday it has handed over several hostages it held in the Gaza Strip under the prisoner swap deal with Israel.

"We handed over a number of Zionist detainees to us as part of the exchange deal agreement - the category of civilians," Al-Quds Brigades, the group’s armed wing, wrote on its Telegram channel.

This is the first time when Islamic Jihad announced its participation in the prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. Until today, only Hamas and its armed wing, Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, took part in the deal on the Palestinian side.

It was reported earlier in the day that Palestinian radicals released 12 hostages, of whom ten were Israeli nationals. Israel, in turn, is to release 30 Palestinian prisoners - 15 women and 15 teenagers - later in the day.

Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The agreement stipulates the release of 50 women and children under the age of 19 who are held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons. The ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip at 8:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24 and the first group of hostages was released on the same day. Israel and Hamas, via mediators, reached an agreement on the extension of the ceasefire in Gaza from 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 28 for two more days.

Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, told TASS on Monday that the new deal with Israel would be on the same terms, i.e. each Israeli hostage will be exchanged for three Palestinian prisoners.