Nepal on Thursday reiterated the call for the immediate release of Nepali student Bipin Joshi, who is held hostage by Hamas militants.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the agreement on the humanitarian pause in Gaza and called for the immediate release of Joshi, who has been held hostage by the Palestinian militant group since October 7.

“Nepal compliments the diplomatic efforts of all the countries and parties primarily of Qatar, the United States of America and Egypt in reaching this understanding,” reads the statement.

The agreement on truce was announced on Wednesday morning, but more than a day later an expected announcement of the official start time had yet to materialise, Reuters reported.

The first truce in the seven-week-old war is meant to be accompanied by the release of 50 women and children hostages captured by militants, in exchange for 150 Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails.

The Nepali Embassy in Tel Aviv said Joshi could be released in the second phase.

The surprise attack last month left 10 Nepali students, who had reached the West Asian country under a ‘Learn and Earn Programme’, dead and four others injured.

Joshi is one of the 17 Nepali students who were living at Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel, close to the Gaza Strip, and came under attack from the Islamist group that rules the strip, according to the foreign ministry.

On Monday, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) had said that Joshi was held hostage by the Hamas militants.

Issuing a press release on Monday, the Embassy of Nepal in Tel Aviv said that the spokesperson for the IDF had confirmed that Joshi was in the captivity of the militant group.

However, Joshi’s state of well-being, and whereabouts are still unknown, the embassy had said.