Gaza truce, exchange of hostages for prisoners to begin on Jan 19
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The first group of hostages to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers, sources said.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
JERUSALEM - The release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel
“Subject to the approval of the Cabinet and the government, and the implementation of the agreement, the release of the hostages can proceed according to the planned framework, with the hostages expected to be released as early as Sunday,” the office said in a statement.
During the initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas,
Israel will release all Palestinian women and children under 19 detained in Israeli jails by the end of the first phase.
The total number of Palestinians released will depend on hostages released and could be between 990 and 1,650, including men, women and children.
Two sources close to Hamas said the first group of hostages to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers.
However, since the Palestinian Islamist movement considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians abducted during the attack that triggered the war.
The first three names on a list obtained by AFP of the 33 hostages set to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on the day of the Hamas attack.
“They are expected to be released on Sunday evening,” one of the two sources close to Hamas said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
“The Red Cross, along with Egyptian and Qatari teams, will receive the Israeli prisoners (hostages),” he said.
“They will then be transported to Egypt, where they will be handed over to the Israeli side present there to complete the handover and conduct necessary medical examinations.”
“Afterwards, they will be transported directly to Israel. Israel is then expected to release the first group of Palestinian prisoners, including several with high sentences,” the source added.
In exchange for their release, Israel is expected to release “a number of important (Palestinian) prisoners”, he said.
Egypt was on Jan 17 hosting technical talks on the implementation of the truce, according to state-linked media.
French President Emmanuel Macron said French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi were on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase.
Israel’s security Cabinet recommended approving the Gaza ceasefire and hostage return deal on Jan 17, ahead of a full Cabinet meeting expected later the same day, a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people since the deal was announced, while Israel’s military said on Jan 16 that it had hit about 50 targets across Gaza over the past day.
Even before the start of the truce, Gazans displaced by the war to other parts were preparing to return home.
“I will go to kiss my land,” said Mr Nasr al-Gharabli, who fled his home in Gaza City for a camp farther south. “If I die on my land, it would be better than being here as a displaced person.”
In Israel, there was joy but also anguish over the hostages taken on Oct 7, 2023 – the deadliest attack in the country’s history.
Kfir Bibas, whose second birthday falls on Jan 18, is the youngest hostage.
Hamas said in November 2023 that Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel, and their mother Shiri had died in an air strike, but with the Israeli military yet to confirm their deaths, many are clinging to hope.
“I think of them, these two little redheads, and I get shivers,” said 70-year-old Osnat Nyska, whose grandchildren attended nursery with the Bibas brothers.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned that Israeli strikes were risking the lives of hostages due to be freed under the deal and could turn their “freedom... into a tragedy”.
The war that began with the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 94 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s ensuing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza, killing 46,788 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry that the UN considers reliable. AFP, REUTERS
