By Jon Haworth and Morgan Winsor. LONDON -- Hamas militants freed three more Israel i hostages on Saturday in exchange for Israel releasing another Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement between the warring sides.
The latest round of the hostage release took place in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. Two Red Cross officials took part in a signing ceremony with a Hamas commander on a stage prior to the handover. All three appeared very thin and weak but able to walk and stand. Hamas militants eventually escorted the hostages off the stage and into three Red Cross vehicles, which slowly drove away through the crowd of people.
The Red Cross later handed over the three newly-released hostages to IDF and ISA forces in Gaza before they crossed into southern Israel, where they underwent an initial medical assessment as their families waited for them at a hospital.
In exchange for the three freed hostages, Israel released another Palestinians from its prisons across the country -- 72 were transferred to Ramallah and Jerusalem and were transferred to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip.
Some of those released appeared frail, including an elderly man on an oxygen tank who had to be carried off one of the buses that arrived in Ramallah. At least seven of the 72 Palestinian prisoners released in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Saturday were immediately transferred to a hospital, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
