Twelve hostages held in the Gaza Strip were released Tuesday — the fifth day of an extended pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas. Ten Israeli citizens, among them one child and nine women, and two foreign nationals, have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for the foreign ministry of Qatar, an intermediary in the agreement between Israel and Hamas. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, confirmed the news, and the hostages’ families were informed that they had been returned to Israel, the office of Israel’s prime minister said in a statement. Thirty Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons were released Tuesday, according to a list of names published by the Israeli Prison Service.
