Israeli security forces stand next to buses waiting at the helipad of Tel Aviv s Schneider medical centre amid preparations for the release of Israeli captives. AFP
"Half an hour ago, the prisoners were handed to the Red Cross who will take them to the Egyptians" at the Rafah crossing, one of the sources said.
"They were handed over to the Egyptian side," the source added.
A source in the military wing of Hamas confirmed the handover, adding: "This is the first group under the agreement."
A first tranche of 13 women and children captives were expected to go back to Israel on Friday after a truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect in the Gaza Strip in the morning.
Israel is set to release three times as many Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, women and teenage boys, under the terms of the deal reach with Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Hamas led an offensive on Israel on October 7, killing according to Israeli officials, 1,200 people and captured around 240 Israeli and foreign captives.
Israel has vowed to "crush" Hamas and unleashed a withering military campaign on Gaza that the Palestinian health ministry says has killed at least 15,000 people, 6,150 of them children.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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