Hamas released two more Israeli women on Thursday with more Palestinian prisoners to be freed under an extended truce that has paused the conflict between Israeli army and Hamas.
With the current truce set to expire early Friday, international bodies have called for a lasting halt to the violence, sparked by deadly Hamas attacks on Israel that prompted it to mount a devastating assault on the Gaza Strip, reports AFP.
The delicate truce held through its seventh day after a 24-hour extension despite a shooting claimed by Hamas militants that killed three people in Jerusalem.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to seek a longer pause that would allow further prisoner-hostage exchanges and more aid for displaced civilians in Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Thursday at least two women hostages had been returned from Gaza after being released to the Red Cross by Hamas.
More were expected to be transferred "in the next few hours", it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office named the two as French-Israeli dual national Mia Shem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40.
Israel is due to release more Palestinian prisoners in turn, after the sides agreed to extend the pause in combat operations until Friday morning.
Only hours after the truce extension, the Islamist militants claimed responsibility for a shooting in Jerusalem that killed three people and called for an "escalation of the resistance".
The morning attack saw two gunmen from annexed east Jerusalem kill three people and wound eight others at a bus stop in the western part of the city, before two off-duty soldiers and civilians fired at them and "neutralised" them, police said.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
