Israel receives names of four female hostages Hamas is due to release Saturday

CNN — Israel says it has received a list of four female hostages Hamas is due to free on Saturday in what would be the second round of releases under the ceasefire deal agreed this month.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that the list was received through mediators and added that Israel’s response would be provided later. It has yet to publicly confirm the names on the list or confirm whether the list provided by Hamas is acceptable.

Hamas said Friday it intends to release four female Israeli soldiers, which raises questions about the fate of a female civilian hostage Israel expected to be released in the second wave.

Israel had demanded that Hamas release Arbel Yehud — a 29-year-old woman who was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz — as part of the next hostage release, a source familiar with the matter said.



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It was not immediately clear whether Israel would accept Hamas releasing four female soldiers before releasing Yehud, or whether Israel would deem the list to be a violation of the agreement.

Yehud is believed to be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not Hamas, which could be a factor in the timing of her release.

The three hostages released during the first phase, Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released on Sunday. At the same time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel.

The release of the second group of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners is part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement which is expected to last for five more weeks. Under the terms, 26 more Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners should be released over that time.

Hamas and its allies still hold 91 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. There are also three additional hostages who were held captive since 2014 who are still in Gaza. In total, 251 people were taken from Israel on October 7, 2023.

Under the terms of the deal, Israeli troops will withdraw from some parts of Gaza and the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza will be increased.