Hamas hands over another group of Israeli, Thai hostages

Hamas said on Sunday it had handed over 13 Israeli hostages, three Thai nationals and a person with Russian citizenship who had been held in the Gaza Strip to the Red Cross on the third day of a truce between Israel and the militant group.

The latest release of hostages is expected to be mirrored by the Israelis freeing another group of 39 Palestinian prisoners as on previous days in the truce.

Prior to Sunday evening, the truce had seen 26 Israeli hostages freed by Hamas in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. 

As a result of parallel negotiations led by Qatar, 14 Thais and one Filipino were also freed by the Palestinian group.