Photo credit: Fox News
Hamas on Friday afternoon published the names of four female hostages who it would release on Saturday after 477 days in captivity.
The Times of Israel reports that although the list did not conform with the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, Israel hours later decided to proceed with the deal.
The four are IDF surveillance soldiers Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariez and Naama Levy. They were abducted during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. Their families were later notified they were expected to be released on Saturday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz held consultations with security chiefs Friday evening on how to respond to the violation, and agreed to the release of the four hostages named by Hamas after deciding the violation was not grave enough to collapse the deal.
A security source was cited in reports as saying that “Israel is preparing to receive the female hostages tomorrow, and that the list of Palestinian prisoners set for release would be handed over to Hamas later Friday.
Under the agreement, female civilians are to be released first, then female soldiers, followed by the elderly and then those who are deemed extremely ill.
With the scheduled release of the second batch of hostages, Israel is set to free a batch of Palestine security prisoners. The agreement stipulates that for each of the female soldiers, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them convicted terrorists who are serving life sentences.
Israel is also set to allow displaced Palestinians on foot to return to northern Gaza from Saturday.
