GAZA CITY (Palestine) Jan 20 (Bernama-AA) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, released a video Sunday documenting the moment they handed over three Israeli female captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in central Gaza City as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
The video showed the handover taking place in al-Saraya Square in central Gaza City attended by hundreds of Palestinian civilians alongside several masked Al-Qassam members.
During the handover, fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades appeared armed, surrounded by thousands of Palestinians chanting slogans celebrating the end of the Israeli genocide and expressing support for the fighters.
The Israeli captives appeared to be in good condition, in stark contrast to Palestinian prisoners previously released by Israel, who showed signs of torture, mistreatment and starvation, with some emerging in a state of mental collapse.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority (KAN) reported that Hamas gave commemorative gifts to the three Israeli female captives it released.
The three Israeli captives were handed over under the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect Sunday at 11.15 am local time (0915GMT) after being delayed for a few hours due to Israel accusing the Palestinian group Hamas of delaying the discharge of a list of captives set to be released.
Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli war has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its war on the enclave.
-- BERNAMA-AA
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