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The Palestinian resistance released an Israeli female soldier along with two settlers\u00a0and five Thai nationals on Thursday\u00a0as scheduled, in the third round of the prisoner swap.<\/p>\n
With the release of these eight captives, Hamas fulfilled its part of the third phase of the prisoner swap, paving the way for Israel to\u00a0to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 children.<\/p>\n
However, Netanyahu said in a statement that he had ordered a halt to the release of Palestinians until further notice, claiming that the handover\u00a0of eight captives had been conducted in a \u201cchaotic\u201d condition.<\/p>\n
The Israeli premier said the exchange would be delayed until mediators secured guarantees from Hamas of \u201cthe safe exit of our hostages in the next rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surrounded by masked Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, the captives made their way through large Palestinian crowds toward the Red Cross vehicles on Thursday without any incident, Press TV reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also a\u00a0day after a second exchange of Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to prevent\u00a0Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n
Israel said then Hamas had failed to free\u00a0a captive who it\u00a0claimed should have been released, but Hamas denied such an arrangement had ever been agreed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The holdup left\u00a0hundreds of thousands of Palestinians stranded\u00a0behind\u00a0an Israeli military barrier for two days before being allowed to head\u00a0to their homes.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions, killing two people and wounding nine, including a child, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into effect last Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ceasefire is aimed at ending the 15-month Israeli war on Gaza and freeing captives still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over six weeks, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives – about one-third of those in captivity – in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group, of the Palestinian prisoners to be released Thursday, 32 had received life sentences, and 48 were serving prison terms of different duration.<\/p>\n
In the last two exchanges, Hamas released seven Israeli captives in return for 290 prisoners, nearly all of whom were Palestinians, except for one Jordanian.<\/p>\n
A fourth exchange scheduled for Saturday will involve the release of three Israeli men, according to Netanyahu\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
MNA<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n