The Israel Prison Service has announced the release of 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails in a fifth swap under a truce deal with Gaza's Hamas militants. Late on Tuesday, the Palestinians were freed from Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, as well as from a detention center in Jerusalem.

The release comes after Qatar's earlier statement that 15 women and 15 children would be among those set free. Mediators are currently meeting in Qatar to negotiate an extension of the five-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which is set to expire on Wednesday.

In a separate development, it has been confirmed that the 12 hostages released by Hamas on Tuesday are now in Israel, escorted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) special forces troops. The group consists of 10 Israeli citizens and two Thai nationals. The hostages, who were held by Hamas, were released as part of the extended truce deal.

In an effort to address ongoing tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, the presidents of three prestigious US universities – Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – are scheduled to testify before a congressional committee next week. They will address claims of antisemitic protests taking place on their campuses. The hearing, titled "Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism," will be chaired by Republican Virginia Foxx from North Carolina.

The Pentagon has also announced that the US military has suspended flights of surveillance drones over Gaza during the truce. The drone flights were initially intended to aid in the search for American hostages taken by Hamas. However, no Americans have been freed in the five batches of hostages released since the truce took effect.

The release of the 30 Palestinians and 12 hostages marks a significant development in the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Efforts are now focused on securing an extension of the ceasefire and addressing the rising tensions surrounding antisemitic protests on US college campuses.