The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Hamas movement released 69 Israeli prisoners, while Israel released 150 Palestinian women and children, during the first four days of the truce agreement.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said in statements to Qatar News Agency (QNA): “The total number of those released by Hamas reached 69 prisoners, while the total number of those released by Israel reached 150 women and children, as part of the commitments of the first four days of the armistice agreement.” ".
He explained, "Within the framework of the commitments of the fourth day of the armistice agreement, 33 Palestinian civilians were released on Monday in exchange for the release of 11 Israeli detainees from Gaza."
He added that the list of those released from Israeli prisons included 30 minors and 3 women, while the list of Israelis released from Gaza included 3 of French citizenship, 2 of German citizenship, and 6 of Argentina.
Al-Ansari stressed the continued intensification of efforts with the aim of reaching a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Before the end of the truce between Israel and Hamas on its fourth day, the Hamas movement announced on Monday that “it was agreed with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for an additional two days under the same conditions as the previous truce,” and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the truce had been reached. An agreement was reached to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional two days.
The Times of Israel newspaper said that the Israeli government approved a list of the names of 50 Palestinian women who are supposed to be released, in exchange for Hamas releasing about 20 Israeli prisoners, as part of the agreement to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip for two additional days.
The newspaper reported, “The government tonight approved a list of 50 Palestinian female prisoners who are likely to be released as part of the agreement to extend the temporary truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and to secure the release of about 20 Israelis who have been detained by the movement since October 7.”
The government media office in Gaza reveals the losses of the war on the Strip
The government media office in Gaza announced that the war on the Strip claimed the lives of more than 15,000 people, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, and injured more than 36,000, 75% of whom were children and women.
He added that about 7,000 people are still missing under the rubble or their fate is unknown, including more than 4,700 children and women.
He pointed out that the number of victims of medical personnel reached 207, civil defense crews 26, and journalists 70.
The Israeli army also destroyed 103 government headquarters and 266 schools, 67 of which were out of service, and 88 mosques were completely destroyed and 174 mosques were partially destroyed, in addition to targeting 3 churches.
50,000 housing units were completely demolished, and 240,000 units were partially demolished.
Also, 26 hospitals and 55 health centers were out of service, and 56 ambulances were destroyed.
The director of the government media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, stated earlier that “the days of the truce revealed the extent of the great massacre committed by the Israeli occupation,” as the Israeli army forces dropped 40,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Central Bank: The war on Gaza costs Israel $53 billion
The Israeli Central Bank revealed yesterday, Monday, that the war on the Gaza Strip is costing the Israeli economy about 198 billion shekels (53 billion US dollars).
The cost includes 107 billion shekels in defense expenditures, 22 billion shekels in direct and indirect compensation for damages, and 25 billion shekels in other civilian expenses.
It is expected that interest on Israeli government debt will reach 8 billion shekels, and tax revenue losses will reach 35 billion shekels.
According to the Central Bank of Israel, the gross domestic product in Israel is expected to grow by 2% on an annual basis for the years 2023 and 2024, which is lower than last month’s expectations, which were respectively 2.3% in 2023 and 2.8% in 2024.
The Central Bank also announced that the war on Gaza has major repercussions, and that the degree of uncertainty in the economy is very large, regarding the expected depth and duration of the fighting, which causes harm to economic activity.
Bloomberg also previously confirmed that Israel's budget deficit may reach 9% of its gross domestic product.