The Palestinian militant group Hamas is expected to release four Israeli female soldiers on Saturday in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
Four female soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were deployed in an observation post towards Gaza during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas members took control of their base and kidnapped them.
The Hamas media office announced that 200 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be released on Saturday as part of the exchange, including 120 prisoners serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with long sentences.
Saturday’s exchange is set to be the second since the start of the truce that took effect on Sunday.
Hamas had previously released three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
On Friday, Hamas named four female hostages who would be released in a second exchange.
But Israel has not officially commented and may not do so until they are actually released.
The ceasefire agreement, reached after months of intermittent negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and with the support of the United States, has stopped fighting for the first time since a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
In the first phase of the agreement, which lasts six weeks, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, elderly men, and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops withdraw from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.
In the next phase, the two sides will negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages, including men of military age, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israel says there are still 94 Israelis and foreigners captured in Gaza, although it is not clear how many are still alive.
