Saturday, January 25, 2025 - Hamas has published the names of four female Israeli soldiers being held captive in Gaza, who the militant group says it plans to release this weekend as part of the continuing ceasefire agreement between the armed group and Israel.
In the hours following the release of the names, the
office of Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to indicate it believed Hamas had
breached the fragile ceasefire deal because the four names did not include that
of the remaining female civilian hostage in Gaza.
Israeli media later reported the Israeli prime minister had
consulted his security chiefs and decided to move forward, believing Hamas’s
decision to release female soldiers before female civilians to be a violation
of the ceasefire agreement but not one serious enough to end the process
entirely.
The agreement requires Hamas in the first phase of the deal
to release all the female civilian hostages before moving on to the category of
female soldiers, followed by older hostages and then people who are seriously
ill, in return for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
All those named by Hamas for the next exchange are female
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) observation troops who were abducted in Nahal Oz
during the group’s surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when
their base was overrun.
“As part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the [Ezzedine]
al-Qassam Brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers,” Abu
Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, said on Telegram.
The four women, who have been held by Hamas in Gaza for 15
months, were named Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.
Arbel Yehoud, the last female civilian hostage being held in
Gaza, who Israeli officials earlier this week said they expected to be released
this weekend, is not on the list.
There has been speculation that Yehoud, who holds joint
German and Israeli citizenship, is not being held by Hamas but by another
militant faction, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
According to the deal, Israel is now supposed to publish a
list of which Palestinians being held in Israeli jails will be released this
weekend.
The first exchange took place on Sunday with the release of
three Israeli civilian hostages and 90 Palestinians. Dozens of Israelis and
hundreds of Palestinians are to be freed, while more humanitarian aid flows
into Gaza.
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