The Hostage Families Forum published this Friday the names of four Israeli military women who should be released this Saturday as part of the second hostage exchange for Palestinian prisonerswithin the framework of the truce in the Gaza Strip.
The Forum “welcomes the long-awaited release of Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Liri Albagy Naama Levy after 477 days of captivity,” this organization that represents the families announced in a statement.
The four soldiers, assigned to surveillance duties in the Gaza Strip, were kidnapped on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas attack in the south of the country.
The four names had been previously announced on Telegram by Abu Obeidaspokesman for the armed wing of the movement, the Ezedin al Qasam Brigades. “As part of the prisoner exchange, the al Qasam Brigades decided to release four female soldiers,” Obeida said.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Benjamin Netanyahuconfirmed that he received a “list of hostages” through mediators. The hostages will be exchanged for an unknown number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The first phase of the truce, which began on Sunday and will last six weeks, should allow the release of a total of 33 hostages in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Three women were freed last weekend in exchange for 90 Palestinians.
The truce continues
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.
Of the 251 people who were kidnapped, 91 remain in Gaza, 34 of whom the army says have died. Hamas has announced the deaths of other hostages, but Israel has not confirmed it.
In retaliation for the October 7 attack, Israel launched a devastating offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has left at least 47,283 dead, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable.
Since it was implemented last Sunday, the truce, negotiated through mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States, has generally been respected.
According to the agreement, After the release of these four new hostages, the thousands of displaced people in the south of the Gaza Strip “will begin to return to the north”said the Hamas spokesman, an operation supervised on the ground by an Egyptian-Qatari committee.
Source: Ambito
