The Palestinian militant group Hamas released 17 more hostages on Sunday in the third exchange under a four-day truce with Israel while expressing hope for an extension of the ceasefire.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday night that 17 hostages including foreign nationals were released to the International Committee of the Red Cross and handed over to Israel, which in turn released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas said in a statement that it is seeking to extend the ceasefire, adding that it is working to increase the number of released detainees as stated in the humanitarian truce agreement.

The group released 13 Israeli hostages and eleven foreigners on the first day of the ceasefire on Friday and 13 Israelis and four foreigners on Saturday, with 78 Palestinian prisoners going the other way in the two days.

The warring sides earlier reached an agreement on a four-day pause during which Hamas will release 50 hostages in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.