Sixteen hostages have been released from captivity in Gaza, the Israeli military said, as diplomatic efforts continued to extend the truce further to allow for more exchanges, writes The Guardian.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said late on Wednesday evening that two hostages with Russian citizenship had crossed into Egypt.

Later on Wednesday night, Israeli military radio said that 10 Israelis and four Thais had been handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza. The group included dual citizens with US, German and German nationality, Qatar said.

The releases came as 30 Palestinian prisoners were freed overnight, Israeli prison authorities said.

“During the night, 30 male and female security prisoners were released from a number of prison facilities”, the country’s prison service said in a statement.