A senior Hamas official announced Thursday that the terror group will provide Israel with the names of the four hostages set to be released on Shabbos as part of the second stage of the hostage-prisoner exchange under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.
In an interview with the Qatari news outlet Al-Araby, Zaher Jabarin, a high-ranking Hamas leader, confirmed: “Tomorrow we will give the mediators the names of the four hostages who will be released.”
Jabarin, who oversees Hamas operations in the West Bank, resides in Istanbul and is considered a leader of the group in exile.
The second phase of the exchange is scheduled to take place on Shabbos afternoon, with Hamas expected to release four women, including both civilians and soldiers.
Initially, Hamas was also expected to provide Israel with updates on the remaining 30 hostages, offering much-anticipated information about which ones are still alive.
However, according to the Kan public broadcaster, citing security sources, Israel is preparing for the possibility that Hamas will only disclose the number of living hostages, without providing further specifics or names.
Nevertheless, knowing how many hostages are still alive will enable Israel to prepare the necessary number of Palestinian security prisoners to be released.
Reports from Hebrew media on Wednesday indicated that Israel has informed Hamas it expects Arbel Yehud, a hostage, to be among those freed in the Shabbos exchange.
Yehud, a female civilian, is among the hostages being held by terrorists from Gaza. She is expected to be included in the next release, though it’s believed she may be held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, not Hamas, which has raised concerns in Jerusalem about potential delays in her release.
Yehud is one of seven female hostages remaining from the original list of 33 to be freed during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. Other women in this group include Shiri Silberman Bibas (33), Liri Albag (19), Karina Ariev (20), Agam Berger (21), Danielle Gilboa (20), and Naama Levy (20).
For each female soldier, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of whom are convicted terrorists serving life sentences. On Monday, Israel released 30 prisoners for each of the three civilian female hostages—Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher—who were freed by Hamas the previous day.
{Matzav.com}