Israel estimates 25 of 33 hostages to be returned during the first ceasefire agreement stage are alive
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The ceasefire with the Hamas terrorist organization will come into effect at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, with the first three hostages — women — set to be freed from Gazan captivity sometime after 4 p.m.
Israel estimates that 25 of the 33 people on the list of hostages to be returned in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement are alive.
According to the Justice Ministry, Israel will release 1,904 Palestinian terrorists in the first stage: 737 prisoners and administrative detainees, among them killers with blood on their hands, and 1,167 residents of the Gaza Strip not involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
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As of Saturday evening in Israel, the country had yet to receive the names of the first three hostages that Hamas will release on Sunday, in an apparent violation of the agreement that requires the terrorist group to inform Israeli authorities of the names 24 hours in advance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We will not move forward with the outline until we receive the list of the abductees to be released, as agreed upon. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. The sole responsibility is on Hamas.”
In a joint statement on Saturday, the Israeli Defense and Justice ministries, IDF, National Insurance Institute and Israel Police said, “As directed by the Israeli government, starting this evening, personal notices will be delivered to families of terror attack victims, informing them that the terrorists involved in the murder of their loved ones are expected to be released as part of the hostage return framework approved by the government.
“The notices will be delivered to parents, spouses or family representatives through the National Insurance Institute, IDF, Israel Police, and other security agencies. The Israel Ministry of Defence will coordinate this activity, and professional rehabilitation staff will accompany the families during this period. We stand with the bereaved families during these complex times.”
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The notices are designed in part to allow the families to petition to the courts against of the release of the terrorists who harmed their loved ones before they are freed.
The Israeli Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement early Saturday following seven hours of deliberation. Twenty-four ministers voted for the agreement and eight voted against, with one absenting himself from the vote.
Voting against the measure were Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli of the Likud Party; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strock and Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer of the Religious Zionism Party; and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu and Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev, and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf of the Otzma Yehudit Party.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi from the Likud was not present during the vote.
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Ynet cited ministers who said at the conclusion of the vote that the decision was painful but significant for the sake of returning the hostages. Ministers who voted against the agreement said that “their heart was torn,” the report added.
The IDF spokesperson released a statement saying that Israeli troops have “been preparing to receive the hostages after their release from Hamas captivity and is operating to provide suitable physical and psychological support, with careful attention to every detail.”
The statement added, “Alongside the agreement and our commitment to bringing home all the hostages, the IDF will continue to operate in order to ensure the security of all Israeli citizens, particularly those in communities near the Gaza Strip.”
The Hamas terrorist organization announced on Saturday that starting Sunday morning, it will deploy its forces—mainly members of the Palestinian police—“across the entire Strip.”
An anonymous Egyptian source was quoted by Israel’s Channel 12 as saying that Jerusalem changed its stance over the last couple of days and agreed that uniformed Palestinian Authority personnel will be stationed at crossings into the Gaza Strip.
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P.A. signs will be erected to emphasize the authority’s responsibility at the crossings, alongside European observers who will return to the border points according to terms of the agreement signed between Israel and the P.A. in 2005, two years before Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip, according to the report.
The accord’s first stage is to see the phased release of 33 hostages—alive or dead—over a period of 42 days.
Three hostages are expected to be returned on Sunday and four more on the seventh day after the ceasefire goes into effect.
Three hostages will be returned every week for the remaining four weeks, with 14 returned on the final, sixth week of the accord’s first stage.
It is not known in what order the hostages will be released, although their names are projected to be revealed within the 24 hours before they are freed.
The 33 captives are considered “humanitarian” cases—women, children, men over 50, wounded and ill, including two mentally ill Israelis who entered the Strip on their own over a decade ago (Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed).
The list is reportedly as follows:
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Romi Gonen, 23
Emily Damari, 27
Arbel Yehud, 29
Doron Steinbrecher, 31
Ariel Bibas, 5
Kfir Bibas, 2
Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33
Liri Albag, 19
Karina Ariev, 20
Agam Berger, 21
Danielle Gilboa, 20
Naama Levy, 20
Ohad Ben-Ami, 58
Gadi Moshe Moses, 80
Keith Siegel, 65
Ofer Calderon, 54
Eli Sharabi, 52
Itzik Elgarat, 70
Shlomo Mansour, 86
Ohad Yahalomi, 50
Oded Lifshitz, 84
Tsahi Idan, 50
Hisham al-Sayed, 36
Yarden Bibas, 35
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
Yair Horn, 46
Omer Wenkert, 23
Sasha Trufanov, 28
Eliya Cohen, 27
Or Levy, 34
Avera Mengistu, 38
Tal Shoham, 39
Omer Shem-Tov, 22
Ninety-four hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre are still being held in Gaza, at least one-third of them dead.
The second phase of the agreement would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, and an Israeli army withdrawal from almost all of the Gaza Strip.
The 15-month long war was triggered by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in the northwestern Negev in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 251 to the Gaza Strip, in the worst single-day attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
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