Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Friday announced the names of four Israeli women soldiers to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
A combination picture shows Israeli hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Liri Albag and Daniela Gilboa, soldiers who were seized from their army base in southern Israel during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in these undated handout pictures. Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/Handout via Reuters
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Friday announced the names of four Israeli women soldiers to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag would be released on Saturday, the group said.
The exchange, expected to begin on Saturday afternoon, follows the release on the ceasefire's first day last Sunday of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first such exchange for more than a year.
In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier released, officials have said. That suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for the four.
Since the release of the three women on Sunday and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel says 94 Israelis and foreigners remain held in Gaza.
The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in Nov. 2023.
In the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.
Israel launched the war following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there.
Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi, Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab
US embassies in Jerusalem, Baghdad and Amman issued security alerts Saturday urging American citizens to exercise "heightened vigilance," as tensions flare between Iran and the United States. Americans were also told to "consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation."
President Donald Trump said Friday that Israel was "very happy" with an agreement reached by his so-called Board of Peace for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump said talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on Thursday have led to a phased disarmament agreement in Gaza, but a Hamas official described the deal as a draft and U.S. officials said Israel was skeptical the militant Palestinian group would surrender its weapons.
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