Under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war, Hamas is preparing to release four Israeli female soldiers who were taken hostage on October 7, 2023. Israel has confirmed that it has received a list of names of hostages who are about to return home.
Neither side has specified how many Palestinians would be released from Israeli detention if everything goes according to plan. According to the Israeli Hostages and Disappeared Families Forum, those released include Karina Arief, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levi and Liri Albag. Albag was 19 years old when he was imprisoned, while all the other Israelis are over 20 years old.
The exchange is part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect last Sunday, which aims to pave the way for a permanent end to the conflict. Mediator Qatar and the United States announced the agreement just days before US President Donald Trump was sworn in. President Trump has been claiming credit for securing it after months of fruitless negotiations.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said in a statement on Telegram on Friday, “The Qassam Brigades has decided to release four female soldiers tomorrow as part of the prisoner exchange agreement.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the name was obtained through an intermediary.
According to Palestinian sources, the hostage exchange could begin as early as 10 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, although neither Hamas nor Israel have issued a statement about the expected timing. According to the Israeli Prison Service, some of the released Palestinians will go to Gaza, while the rest will return to the West Bank.
Family members of those held hostage in Gaza after the deadliest attack by Hamas in Israel’s history are awaiting the return of their loved ones after 15 months of suffering. Vicky Cohen, the mother of hostage Banirod Cohen, expressed her pain after her daughter was taken hostage, saying, “We are all plagued by the worry and fear that this agreement will not be fully implemented.”
Families displaced by more than a year of war in Gaza wanted to return home, but many said their homes had been reduced to rubble. “Even if we think about returning, we have nowhere to pitch our tents because of the destruction,” displaced woman Thekra Kasem told AFP.
The three Stages
It has been agreed that the ceasefire agreement will be implemented in three phases. The agreement stipulates the return of 33 hostages in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails during the first 42 days, which began last Sunday.
The three Israeli hostages, Emily Damari, Romy Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, have returned home. In exchange, 90 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, were released.
The next phase should include negotiations for a more permanent end to the war, while the final phase would involve the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies or remains of the dead hostages. During the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, 91 of whom are believed to be alive in Gaza.
According to Israeli statistics, 1,210 people were killed in the attack. At least 47,283 people have died in Gaza in Israeli retaliation, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Qatar, told AFP on Friday that Palestinians displaced in southern Gaza by the war could return to the north after Saturday’s release.
Hundreds of trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began, but its distribution within the devastated area remains a major challenge. Israel has been waging a major campaign on the eve of the ceasefire, with Israeli military attacks, especially in the northern region, disrupting public life.
Aid workers say thousands of people living in makeshift shelters built in former schools, bombed-out houses and cemeteries lack even plastic tents to protect them from the winter rain and wind.
Nearly 200 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel are releasedÂ
Four Red Cross vehicles have arrived at a Gaza square where Palestinian militants are expected to hand over four Israeli female hostages in a prisoner exchange on Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.
Four Israeli soldier hostages will be released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, including 120 serving life sentences in Israeli jails, as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian sources said. The source, who asked not to be named, said he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, “120 of these prisoners are serving life sentences.”
