Hamas and Israel have completed a third round of hostage, prisoner exchange involving 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals as well as 39 Palestinian prisoners on late Saturday.

Television images showed freed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza as Hamas handed the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday.

More than half of the Israelis released were women and children.

“The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Israel released 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 minors – from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

Some of the Palestinians arrived at Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of citizens awaited them, a Reuters journalist said.

The Palestinian group Hamas announced Sunday that it is seeking to extend its four-day humanitarian pause with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The group said in a statement that it is making serious efforts to secure the release of more Palestinians even after the pause ends.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government would accept an extension of the humanitarian pause in Gaza in exchange for the release of more hostages.

Netanyahu said in a video statement published by his office that he spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden and told him an extension would be accepted in exchange for the release of 10 hostages for each additional day of the pause.

He stressed that after the pause, Israel would continue its military operations with the ultimate aim of eliminating the Palestinian group Hamas and seeing to it that all of the remaining hostages are returned.