Hamas has released the names of four female soldiers expected to be freed on Saturday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel.
Hostages Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and 19-year-old Liri Albag, who were serving with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), are set to return from the war-ravaged territory to Israel in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
All four were taken captive from the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 when Hamas carried out its cross-border attack.
They are expected to be freed as part of an exchange that will see 200 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails – 50 for each IDF soldier released by Hamas as per the ceasefire agreement. It is understood 30 of the Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences.
It follows the release of three hostages, including British-Israeli Emily Damari, last Sunday and comes as the ceasefire approaches its second week.
Israel has yet to confirm the latest names. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “A list of kidnapped women has been received by the mediators. Israel’s response will be provided later.”
Image: Karina Ariev, 20, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Image: Daniella Gilboa, 20, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Israel had reportedly demanded that Arbel Yehuda, an Israeli civilian, be on the list of four to be released on Saturday, however she has not been named by Hamas.
It is thought she might be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Gaza.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, 33 hostages are to be freed over the course of six weeks in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
The Gaza-based Prisoners’ Media Office said in a statement: “After the Palestinian resistance factions announced the names of the occupation prisoners who are to be released tomorrow, which included the names of four female soldiers; we are waiting for the list of Palestinian prisoners who are to be released tomorrow, which will include 120 prisoners with life sentences, and 80 prisoners with high sentences, according to what was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement in the deal.”
Among the roughly 250 people abducted in Israel on 7 October, some have died in captivity in Gaza, while others have been released or rescued.
The ceasefire, brokered with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US, has brought a pause to 15 months of brutal fighting in Gaza that has razed much of the enclave to the ground.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.
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