Hamas will name the next Israeli hostages that will be released

Hamas should give Israel the names of four hostages that will be released on Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

It is believed that these will be soldiers and civilians, all women.

They will be released in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.

It will be the second exchange since the entry into force of the ceasefire last Sunday. Three hostages and 90 prisoners were released during the first exchange.

The ceasefire ended the war that started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 were brought back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 47,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the Israeli offensive, said the Ministry of Health led by Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas should also provide information on the 26 hostages that should be released over the next five weeks.

This includes the Bibas family – two parents and two children, one of which, Kfir, was 10 months old when it was captured and is the youngest hostage. It is not known whether this information will include names or simply the number of living or dead hostages.

The prisoners who will be released are of a more serious category than those released during the first exchange. Among them are those who killed, some of whom are serving sentences over 15 years of age.

Israel insisted that no person involved in the October 7 attacks would be released.

The cease-fire agreement was concluded after months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

It will be implemented in three stages, the second stage to start six weeks after the start of the truce. About 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released during a first step in exchange for 33 hostages. Israeli forces will also start to withdraw from their positions in Gaza and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians will be able to return to the areas they have fled or where they were forced.

The ceasefire aims to end the war in Gaza definitively.

Ninety-one hostages taken on October 7, 2023 are still detained in Gaza. Israel estimates that fifty-seven of them are still alive. Three others – two of which have been alive – have been detained for a decade or more.