Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israel released 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 minors – from two prisons.
A Reuters witness said some Palestinians reached al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of civilians were waiting for them.
A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomatic moves said Hamas would maintain the ceasefire, the first halt in fighting since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking about 240 hostages. .
In response to that attack, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas militants who run Gaza, who are bombing and shelling the enclave and launching ground attacks in the north. Palestinian health officials said Saturday that about 14,800 people had been killed, about 40% of them children.
Saturday’s swap followed the initial release of 13 Israeli hostages, including children and the elderly, in exchange for the release of 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli prisons by Hamas the previous day.