More Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners expected to be freed

An Israel-Hamas truce in the Gaza Strip stretched into a fifth day on Tuesday as the two sides completed the release of Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians under their original ceasefire deal and appeared poised to free more. Israel on Monday said 11 Israelis had returned to the country from the Gaza Strip, bringing to 69 the total of Israeli and foreign hostages the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas has freed since Friday under the four-day truce. The Israel Prison Service said 33 Palestinian prisoners were released on Monday from Israel's Ofer prison in the West Bank and from a detention centre in Jerusalem, bringing the total number of Palestinians it has freed since Friday to 150. Each day since the truce began on Friday, Hamas has released some hostages while Israel has freed some Palestinians it holds. Of the 69 hostages freed by Hamas were 51 Israelis and 18 foreigners. Ido Dan, a relative of Israelis Sahar Calderon, 16, and Erez Calderon, 12, spoke of the joy at their release on Monday mixed with anxiety about their father, Ofer, who is still being held. "It is difficult to go from a state of endless anxiety about their fate to a state of relief and joy," Dan said. "This is an exciting and heart-filling moment but ... it is the beginning of a difficult rehabilitation process for Sahar and Erez, who are still young and have been through an unbearable experience." Israel previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released, providing some respite to Palestinians in the Mediterranean seaside strip from the war. Israel has not commented on any agreement to extend the truce but, in what may be an implicit confirmation, the Israeli prime minister's office said Israel's government approved the addition of 50 female prisoners to its list of Palestinians for potential release if additional Israeli hostages are released.