Israel receives names of four female hostages Hamas is due to release Saturday

CNN
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Israel says it has received a list of four female hostages Hamas is due to free on Saturday in what would be the second round of releases under the ceasefire deal agreed this month.

Hamas said that it intends to release Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag on Saturday. All four of the women were serving as Israel Defense Forces soldiers at the time of their kidnapping.

Israeli officials told the families of the four women that they intended to move forward with the release – despite the fact that Israel expected Arbel Yehud, a female civilian hostage still held in Gaza, to be included in Saturday’s release.

Israel had demanded that Hamas release Yehud, a 29-year-old woman who was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, as part of the next hostage release, a source familiar with the matter said. Yehud is believed to be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not Hamas, which could be a factor in the timing of her release.

It was not initially clear on Friday whether Israel would accept the list as provided by Hamas, given Yehud’s absence on it. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment over the phone with the country’s defense minister and the heads of the country’s negotiation team, an official told CNN.

Later in the day, the families were notified Israel intended for the release to go ahead.

The three hostages released during the first phase, Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released on Sunday. At the same time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel.

The release of the second group of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners is part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement which is expected to last for five more weeks. Under the terms, 26 more Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners should be released over that time.

Hamas and its allies still hold 91 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. There are also three additional hostages who were held captive since 2014 who are still in Gaza. In total, 251 people were taken from Israel on October 7, 2023.

Under the terms of the deal, Israeli troops will withdraw from some parts of Gaza and the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza will be increased.

This is a developing story and will be updated.