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Hamas names four Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday under ceasefire deal

In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier released

Published: Fri 24 Jan 2025, 7:43 PM

Updated: Fri 24 Jan 2025, 9:36 PM

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  • Reuters

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Pedestrians walk past the portraits of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

Pedestrians walk past the portraits of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

The armed wing of Hamas disclosed the names on Friday of four Israeli hostages to be released the following day under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag will be the next hostages to go free, the spokesman for the Izzeldeen al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said.

The exchange, expected to begin on Saturday afternoon, follows the release on the ceasefire's first day last Sunday of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first such exchange for more than a year.

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In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier released, officials have said. That suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for the four.

The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in Nov. 2023.

In the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.

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