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Middle East conflict

Three Israeli hostages to be swapped for 183 Palestinian prisoners

Under the deal, 18 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment, 54 people serving lengthy prison terms and 111 Gaza residents detained after October 7, 2023 will be released from prisons

CAIRO, February 7. /TASS/. A total of 183 Palestinian prisoners, including 18 sentenced to life imprisonment, will leave Israeli jails on February 8 in exchange for the release of three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Prisoners’ Information Office said.

"Under the deal [with Israel], 18 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment, 54 people serving lengthy prison terms and 111 Gaza residents detained after October 7 [2023] will be released from prisons," the office said in a statement, posted on its Telegram channel.

Earlier on Friday, Palestine’s radical Hamas movement announced that it would release three Israeli hostages, held in the Gaza Strip. One of them also has German citizenship.

The agreement to cease fire in Gaza entered into force on January 19. On the same day, Palestinian groups released the first group of hostages, which included three Israeli women. In turn, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners. On January 25, four Israeli women, who were undergoing their compulsory service in the Israeli army, were released from captivity in Gaza, while Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners. Among them, 114 arrived in the West Bank, 16 returned to Gaza, and the other 70 were deported to Egypt.

Eight hostages were released during an additional swap on January 30: three Israeli citizens and five Thai passport holders. In exchange, 110 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons.

On February 1, three hostages returned from Gaza. One of them was a citizen of Israel, one was a French national and the last was American. A total of 183 prisoners were released from Israeli jails in return, eight of them were taken to Egypt.

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