The names of 24 hostages who have returned to Israel from Gaza on Friday have been confirmed by the Israeli government as Palestinian prisoners were freed to the West Bank by Israeli authorities.
It comes on the first day of a four-day truce deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.
The group of hostages comprised 13 Israeli citizens, 10 Thais and one citizen of the Philippines. Four children, families and five other elderly people were among the group.
They underwent an initial medical check inside Israeli territory and were accompanied by Israeli soldiers to hospitals to be reunited with their families.
The group are among the some 240 people taken hostage by Hamas terrorists during a deadly October 7 rampage in southern Israel. Hamas is expected to free up to 50 hostages in exchange for around 150 Palestinian prisoners.
Shortly after, Israel confirmed that it released 39 Palestinian prisoners - 33 prisoners freed in the West Bank were handed to the Red Cross and the remaining six were being freed from a Jerusalem lockup.
The temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early on Friday, with the deal also allowing more aid to reach southern Gaza.Four fuel tankers and four tankers with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip at the Rafah crossing from Egypt, Israel said.
