Hamas is set to release four Israeli soldiers in a second exchange, according to Reuters
By Maayan Lubell, Nidal Al-MughGrabi and Dawoud Abu Alcalas
Jerusalem / Cairo / Gaza (Reuters) – Palestinian Authority Hamas is expected to release four Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for a 15-month truce.
Most of the fasmas appointed and armed and armed jihadist Muslims gathered in the square in Gaza City, where a Palestinian podium was set up, as the Palestinian crowd gathered. A banner hanging from the stage read in Hebrew “Zionism will not win.”
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza was on its way to collect Israeli hostages from Hamas, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.
These four soldiers – Karina Aristi, Danina Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza and were captured by Alas Fighters who continued their attacks on Oct. Oct 7, 2023.
One of the soldiers was being held by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian source said.
Hamas said 200 prisoners would be released on Saturday as part of the exchange. They include members of Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), some of whom are serving life sentences.
About 70 will be deported, Hamas said. A Palestinian official near the talks told RETERS that some of the released prisoners will be released to Egypt. Some of those will stay in Egypt and others may go on to Algeria, Qatar or Turkey.
It is possible that they included soldiers found in a deadly attack on Israel that killed dozens of people.
Saturday’s exchange would be the second since the cease-fire began on Sunday, with Hamas exchanging three Israeli citizens for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas identified on Friday four guests who will be removed from the second shift. But Israel has not officially commented and may not until they actually find out.
The Red Cross will receive them from Hamas in Gaza and hand them over to the Israeli forces who will take them to Israel, where they will be reunited with the family, receive first aid and be taken to the hospital. Another female soldier brought with them is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
A video of the four robberies aired in May showed five documents, pajama-clad and stunned and bloodied, bound and gagged and taken to jail. The footage was found in the fields worn by the dead who attacked the Nahali OZ base in southern Israel where women were working as surveillance monitors.
Completion of Sections
The Firearms Agreement, implemented after months of negotiations with Qatar and Egypt and sponsored by the United States, has stopped for the first time since Crece which lasted just a week in November 2023.
In the first phase of the six-week deal, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, old men and the sick and wounded, in exchange for hundreds of Israeli forces withdrawing from some of their positions on the Gaza Strip.
In the next phase, the two sides could discuss the exchange of the remaining members, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which is largely dormant after 15 months of fighting and bombing.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas Attack, in which the forces killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 Saitores back to Gaza, according to the Israelis. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have passed through Gaza, according to health authorities there.
After the release on Sunday of the hostages Lomi Gonen, Emily Damuri and Doron Steinbeher and the recovery of the bodies of the Israeli soldiers who have been missing for ten years, the ten years have been lost in Gaza. About a third is said to have died in Absentia by Israeli authorities.
