Hamas says four female soldiers to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
Hamas has announced the names of four Israeli female soldiers to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire in Gaza.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it received the list submitted by Hamas on Friday but has not confirmed the names.
The exchange, expected to begin on Saturday afternoon, follows the release on Sunday, the ceasefire’s first day, of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first such exchange for more than a year.
In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier freed, officials have said.
That suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released this weekend in return for the four Israelis.
However, some reports indicated that the list does not align with the terms of the ceasefire and Israel had been expecting certain civilians to be included in the latest list for release.
“Israel wanted civilians to be released first, then soldiers and then those who were deemed extremely ill as part of the first phase of this deal,” Al Jazeera’s Hamduh Salut reported from Amman, Jordan.
Since the release of the three women on Sunday and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel said 94 Israelis and foreigners remain held in Gaza.
The ceasefire, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.
In the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
In a subsequent phase, the two sides are to negotiate the exchange of the remaining captives and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardments.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 47,283 Palestinians and wounded 111,472 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.
