Israel releases more Palestinian prisoners on sixth day of Gaza truce after Hamas frees 16 hostages
Jerusalem (AP): Israel released another group of Palestinian prisoners early Thursday in exchange for 16 hostages freed hours earlier by the Hamas in Gaza. The releases came on the sixth day of a temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas war.
The latest swap for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel under the Gaza truce comes as international mediators raced to seal another extension to allow further exchanges and prolong the halt of Israel's air and ground offensive.
A bus carrying some of the Palestinian detainees was seen arriving in the West Bank city of Ramallah before dawn. Most prominent among those freed was Ahed Tamimi, a 22-year-old activist who gained worldwide fame in 2017 after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral on social media.
On each day of the truce, hostages have been traded for Palestinian prisoners, leading to the release of a total of 97 hostages. With the Palestinian prisoners freed early Thursday to number 30, the overall total would be 210 released prisoners.
Hamas released 16 hostages late Wednesday. The Israeli military said a group of 10 Israeli women and children and four Thai nationals had been returned to Israel, where they were being taken to hospitals to be reunited with their families. Earlier, two Russian-Israeli women were freed by Hamas in a separate release.
Negotiators were working down to the wire to hammer out details for a further extension of the truce beyond its deadline of early Thursday. The talks appear to be growing tougher as most of the women and children held by Hamas are freed, and the fighters are expected to seek greater releases in return for freeing men and soldiers.
International pressure has mounted for the cease-fire to continue as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians, uprooted three quarters of the population of 2.3 million and led to a humanitarian crisis. Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives.
Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored on Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war.
"After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes," he said. "There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end."
He spoke ahead of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to press for further extensions of the truce and hostage releases. Blinken arrived in Israel late Wednesday.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian boys an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old during a raid on the town of Jenin, Palestinian health officials said. Security footage showed a group of boys in the street who start to run, except for one who falls to the ground, bleeding.
The Israeli military said its troops fired on people who threw explosives at them but did not specify if it was referring to the boys, who are not seen throwing anything.
With Israeli troops holding much of northern Gaza, a ground invasion south will likely bring an escalating cost in Palestinian lives and destruction.
Most of Gaza's population is now crammed into the south. The truce has brought them relief from bombardment, but the days of calm have been taken up in a frenzied rush to obtain supplies to feed their families as aid enters in greater, but still insufficient, amounts.
The United States, Israel's main ally, has shown greater reticence over the impact of the war in Gaza. The Biden administration has told Israel that if it launches an offensive in the south, it must operate with far greater precision.
The plight of the captives and shock from Hamas' October 7 attack in southern Israel have galvanised Israeli support for the war. But Netanyahu is under pressure to bring the hostages home and could find it difficult to resume the offensive if there's a prospect for more releases.
Since the initial truce began on Friday, both sides have been releasing women and children. Israeli officials say Hamas still holds around 20 women, who would be released in a few days if the swaps continue at the current rate.
After that, keeping the truce going depends on tougher negotiations over the release of around 126 men Israel says are held captive including several dozen soldiers.
An Israeli official involved in hostage negotiations said talks on a further extension for release of civilian males and soldiers were still preliminary, and that a deal would not be considered until all the women and children are out. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing.
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MUDA case: Karnataka HC adjourns hearing till Dec 10
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday adjourned till December 10 the hearing on the plea seeking transfer of the investigation into the MUDA site allotment scam to the CBI. The plea was filed by activist Snehamayi Krishna doubting the credibility of Lokayukta investigation into the matter.
The petitioner told PTI that he approached the HC saying he has no faith in the Lokayukta police and hence the case should be handed over to the CBI.
In the MUDA case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police and the Enforcement Directorate have launched an investigation into the 'scam'.
The CM has denied any wrongdoing in the alleged scam.
