Caspar Veldkamp, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, has welcomed last night’s exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli captives’ bodies as part of the Gaza ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports.

He expressed solidarity with Israel and the families of captives whose bodies have been returned in the past week, also condemning Hamas for “a cruel handover ceremony” and “grave injustices”.

“Everything must now be done to ensure that the ceasefire holds and an agreement on the second phase is soon reached,” Veldkamp wrote in a post on X.

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