Hamas is set to release four Israeli women soldiers held hostage since its October 7, 2023 attack, as part of a truce agreement in the ongoing Gaza conflict.
This exchange is expected to also include the release of a second group of Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli government confirmed on Friday that it had received a list of names of hostages due to return home, though the exact number of Palestinians set to be freed from Israeli detention has not been disclosed.
The women who are set to be released are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, according to the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Albag, who was 18 when captured, turned 19 in captivity, while the others are now 20 years old.
This prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Sunday. The goal of the truce is to eventually bring an end to the war.
Qatar and the United States mediated the agreement, which was announced days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and Trump has since claimed credit for securing it after months of stalled negotiations.
Spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, confirmed on Telegram that the group had decided to release the four women soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also confirmed receipt of the names through mediators.
Palestinian sources indicated that the releases could begin before noon on Saturday, but neither Hamas nor Israel has specified an exact timing.
The release will be part of a broader exchange under which some Palestinian prisoners will be sent to Gaza, while others will return to the occupied West Bank.
The families of hostages held in Gaza, who have endured over 15 months of uncertainty, anxiously await the return of their loved ones.
“The worry and fear that the deal will not be implemented to the end is eating away at all of us,” said Vicky Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, many displaced families are yearning to return to their homes, but the devastation left behind makes that nearly impossible.
“Even if we thought about returning, there is no place for us to put our tents because of the destruction,” said Theqra Qasem, a displaced woman from Gaza.
The ceasefire deal is structured in three phases. The first phase, which began Sunday, involves the return of 33 hostages that Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
So far, three hostages—Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher—have been released, and 90 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, have been freed.
The second phase will focus on negotiations toward a more permanent ceasefire, while the final phase will focus on reconstructing Gaza and recovering the bodies of deceased hostages.
During the October 7 attack, Hamas took 251 hostages, of whom 91 remain in Gaza, with 34 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
The attack led to the deaths of 1,210 Israelis, primarily civilians. Israel’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with figures considered reliable by the UN.
In a statement on Friday, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Qatar, Bassem Naim, indicated that Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza would begin returning to the northern part of the territory after the releases on Saturday.
Despite significant aid entering Gaza since the ceasefire began, the distribution of assistance remains a monumental challenge, especially in the north, where Israel carried out extensive operations until the ceasefire took effect.
Aid workers report dire conditions for hundreds of thousands living in makeshift shelters, lacking even plastic sheeting to shield them from winter rains and winds.
Many are displaced in former schools, bombed-out homes, and cemeteries, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.
