Hamas set to release four Israeli soldier hostages in second swap By Reuters

Bay Sociel Al-Mugarbi

JERUSALEM / CAIRO (Reuters) – The Palestinian militant group ShMAS will release four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners in a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.

Four soldiers, Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilba, Naama Levy and Liri Albagh, were all stationed at observation posts on the edge of Gaza and were kidnapped by Hamas fighters who overran their base in an attack on Israel on October 7.

The Hamas Prisoners’ Media Office said 200 prisoners were to be released on Saturday as part of the swap, including 120 life sentences and 80 prisoners with other long sentences.

Their identities have not yet been released, but they are likely to include members of militant groups convicted of deadly attacks that killed dozens of people.

Saturday’s exchange was the second since a ceasefire began on Sunday, with Hamas handing over three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners. Live video showed armed Hamas men arriving in a Gaza City square before being released.

On Friday, four hostages were found to be freed in a second exchange, but Israel has not officially commented and cannot do so until they actually accept them.

The Red Cross will receive them from Tassas in Gaza and they will be picked up by Israeli forces, who will transport them to Israel, where they will be reunited with their families, undergo initial treatment and be taken to a hospital over the weeks.

The video of the four kidnappings may show five conscripts, pajama-clad and stunned and some bloodied, bound and gagged in a jeep. where the women served as control freaks.

Pha made the ceasefire

The cease-fire agreement, which was worked out by Qatar and Egypt over the course of months, ended the fighting for the first time since November 20, 2023.

In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, elderly men and the sick, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and Israeli troops withdrawing from their positions in the Gaza Strip.

At a later stage, the two sides will negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages, including military-age men, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which has largely been reduced to rubble after 15 months of bombing.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza on October 7. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health officials there.

94 Israelis and foreigners remain free in Israel in Israel The recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier are said to be 94 Israelis and foreigners who remain in Gaza a third were declared dead in absentia.