Gaza City: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) handed four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, as part of the seventh batch of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli entity, after handing two other hostages earlier today, bringing the total of hostages freed today to six.

According to Qatar News Agency, the prisoner handover took place today at two points that were prepared in advance for the handover process, the first in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and the second on Salah al-Din Street near the entrance to the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Hamas handed "Elia Maimon, Omar Shem Tov, and Omer Finkert" in the Nuseirat camp, in addition to the soldier "Hisham al-Sayed" in Gaza City without an announced handover ceremony.

In return, 602 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released from the occupation prisons today, including 50 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 with high sentences, in addition to 47 prisoners released in the Wafa al-Ahrar deal who were re-arrested by the occupation, and 445 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023 will be released.