7th Phase of Swap Deal: Hamas Releases 8 more ‘Israeli’ Captives for 30 Palestinian Detainees

By Staff, Agencies

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has freed eight more captives as part of a swap deal with the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime, which is expected to release 30 more Palestinians in exchange.

Two of the captives were released first, a 21-year-old ‘Israeli’ woman and a 40-year-old ‘Israeli’-French one.

The movement then released six more, comprising four adults and two teenagers, transferring them to the Red Cross.

Television images showed some young women among the group walking towards ambulances.

Hamas and its fellow Gaza Strip-based resistance movement of the Islamic Jihad launched an operation in the ‘Israeli’-occupied Palestinian territories on October 7 in response to the ‘Israeli’ regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Around 250 people were taken captive during the operation.

The regime responded to the operation by bringing Gaza under a genocidal war that has so far left more than 15,500 people martyred.

A truce deal was clinched between the two sides under Qatari and Egyptian mediation earlier this month that mandated a four-day lull in the ‘Israeli’ military campaign as well as the prisoner exchange.

So far, nearly 320 people have been released from both sides under the deal that has been extended twice so far.

The last round of the exchange, namely its sixth phase, came on Wednesday, when the resistance movement released 14 captives in exchange for 30 Palestinian detainees.

Speaking on Tuesday, Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas' Political Bureau, said he hoped the deal would be extended for a longer period of time.

The Zionist regime, however, has said it seeks to resume the war with "full force," claiming that it was after ending Hamas' rule over Gaza.

Hamas has vowed that the Palestinian territory would only be ruled by its own people once the war was over.