JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Palestinian militant group Hamas is expected to release four Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
The four soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza, and were abducted by Hamas fighters who overran their base during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The Hamas Prisoners’ Press Office said it expected 200 prisoners to be freed Saturday as part of the swap, including 120 serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other long sentences.
Saturday’s exchange would be the second since the ceasefire began on Sunday, with Hamas handing over three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
On Friday, Hamas identified the four hostages who were released in another exchange. But Israel has not officially commented and cannot do so until it actually receives them.
The cease-fire agreement, which was drawn up after months of negotiations to exclude Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, halted fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.
In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, elderly men and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails while Israeli troops withdraw from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.
At a later stage, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of remaining hostages, including military-age men, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which is largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, when militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back in Gaza, according to Israel’s Tallies. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there.
After the release of hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher on Sunday and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier who had been missing for a decade, Israel says Still Alive.
