DOHA, Nov 27 — A total of 39 Palestinians held by Israel are to be released from prison on Sunday, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said, on the third day of a prisoner-hostage exchange.

Qatar, with the support of the United States and Egypt, engaged in weeks of intense negotiations to secure the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas militants, which began Friday in Gaza after nearly seven weeks of war that left thousands dead.

As part of agreed commitments, "39 Palestinian civilians will be released today in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli detainees from Gaza, in addition to a detainee holding Russian citizenship and 3 Thais,” Majed Al-Ansari said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Israel’s army separately said 13 of the released hostages were back on Israeli territory, and another four were on their way to Egypt.

Over the course of the four-day truce a total 50 civilian hostages are expected to be freed by Hamas.

In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be released, and humanitarian aid has been entering Gaza.

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 militants. — AFP