GAZA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, announced in a statement on Thursday that it was prepared to release two hostages for humanitarian reasons.
The statement in Arabic said the two hostages were "Hanna Katsir and the boy Yagil Yaqoub," without specifying their nationalities.
The PIJ previously announced that it was holding 30 hostages in the Gaza Strip after its armed men entered southern Israel during the Al-Aqsa Flood operation led by Hamas on Oct.7.
Earlier in the day, a government source told Xinhua Israel is "willing" to temporarily pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip if Hamas shows "a genuine commitment" to releasing the hostages. ■
