Hamas names next Israeli hostages set to be released
Clockwise from top left: Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa and Liri Albag
- Published
Hamas has named four hostages to be released on Saturday under the Gaza ceasefire deal.
It says they are soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. They will be freed in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
It will be the second such exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday.
Three hostages and 90 prisoners were released in the first swap.
Dr Ayelet Levy, whose daughter Naama Levy was taken hostage by Hamas, called her daughter "a very strong girl" when she spoke to the BBC last year
The ceasefire halted the war which began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.
More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says.
Hamas is also expected to provide information about the remaining 26 hostages due to be released over the next five weeks.
This includes the Bibas family - two parents and two children, one of whom, Kfir, was 10 months old when taken captive and is the youngest hostage. It is unclear if this information will include the names or just the number of living or dead hostages.
The prisoners who will be released are of a more serious category than those freed in the first exchange. They will include those who have killed, some of whom are serving sentences of more than 15 years.
Israel has insisted that no-one who was involved in the 7 October attacks will be freed.
Ariev, Gilboa, Levy and Albag were seized at the Nahal Oz military base which was overrun by Hamas gunmen. Footage showed them among a group of women being tied up with their hands behind their backs. They were seen pleading for help while being taunted by their captors.
The women were part of a unit which surveilled the Israel-Gaza border.
Three weeks ago Hamas released a video of Albag, 19, calling for the Israeli government to reach a deal.
The ceasefire was concluded after months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, led by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
It will be implemented in three stages, with the second stage due to begin six weeks into the truce. About 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the first stage in exchange for 33 hostages. Israeli forces will also begin withdrawing from positions in Gaza and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians will be able to return to areas they had fled or been forced from.
The ceasefire is meant to lead to a permanent end to the war in Gaza.
Ninety-one hostages taken on 7 October 2023 are still held in Gaza. Fifty-seven of them are assumed by Israel to still be alive. Three others - two of whom are alive - have been held for a decade or more.
Three female Israeli hostages have already been released as part of the latest ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Romi Gonen, 24, was captured as she tried to escape the Nova music festival when it was targeted by the militant group as part of the 7 October 2023 attack.
She has been freed alongside Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse, and Emily Damari, 28, who holds dual British-Israeli nationality.
All three arrived back in Israel on Sunday after being released by Hamas in Gaza, and were reunited with their families.
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