Hamas says that four women soldiers will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
Hamas has announced that the names of four Israeli soldiers will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange under the cease-fire in Gaza.
Those who should be released are the soldiers Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Danielle Gilboa and Naama Levy according to a short declaration on Friday by Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Hamas armed wing.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the list had been received from mediators. Israel’s response would be presented later, she said in a statement.
The exchange, which should start on Saturday afternoon, follows the press release on Sunday, the first day of the ceasefire, of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first exchange of this type for more than a year.
In the first phase of six weeks of Gaza’s ceasefire, Israel agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for each female soldier released, officials said.
This suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released this weekend in exchange for the four Israelis.
However, some Israeli media reports have indicated that the list would not be aligned on the terms of the ceasefire and that Israel expected that certain civilians are included in the last publication list.
“Israel wanted civilians to be released first, then the soldiers, then those who were deemed extremely sick as part of the first phase of this agreement,” Hamduh Hi from Tel Aviv Tribune reported in Amman, Jordan.
Since the release of the three women on Sunday and the restoration of the body of an Israeli soldier who has disappeared for a decade, Israel has said that 94 Israelis and foreign has been held in Gaza.
The ceasefire, has developed after months of negotiations on negotiations negotiated by Qatar and Egypt and supported by the United States, has interrupted the fighting for the first time in a truce which has lasted that a week in November 2023.
In the first phase, Hamas agreed to release 33 captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons.
In a later phase, the two parties must negotiate the exchange of remaining captives and the withdrawal of Israeli Gaza forces, which is largely in ruins after 15 months of Israeli fighting and bombardments.
The War of Israel against Gaza killed at least 47,283 Palestinians and injured 111,472 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the attacks led by Hamas that day and more than 200 have been taken in captivity.
