Hamas releases 4 Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners
Jerusalem, Jan 25 (AP): Hamas group on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers they held captive for 15 months in a planned exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees in Israel.
It's the second exchange since a fragile ceasefire took effect last weekend, halting the fighting in Gaza for at least six weeks during which dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be freed while more aid flows in.
In return for the four soldiers, Israel should free 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees, including 120 Hamas members serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks. The first exchange took place Sunday with the release of three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The ministry doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war was sparked by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people.
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Will of people supreme, says Mahua Moitra after BJP's landslide victory in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day after the Trinamool Congress faced a drubbing by the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections, TMC MP Mohua Moitra on Tuesday said her party respects the mandate as the will of the people is supreme.
She also said that the party will continue the fight for a “secular country”.
In a post on X, Moitra said, “The will of the people is supreme. If Bengal wanted BJP, then Bengal has got BJP. We respect that.”
The BJP on Monday scripted history by winning 206 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule.
"We fought the good fight against unimaginable odds on an uneven pitch and for that I am proud of my leader & my party," Moitra said.
She said the TMC will continue to stand and fight for a secular country where the constitution, and "not brute majoritarianism, is the last word”.
