The Israeli government confirmed that it has received a list of the names of hostages held by Hamas within the Gaza Strip who will be released in this first exchange, after reaching an agreement with the Palestinian militia, mediated by Qatar.
“Israel confirms that it has received a preliminary list of names. Designated officials are verifying the details of the list and are in contact with all families at this time,” said a terse statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the four-day truce between Israel and Islamic militias in the enclave will come into force at 7am (local time, 2am in Brasília) this Friday (24), and that the first 13 hostages will be released at 4pm local time (9pm Brasília time).
After the parties agreed to the terms of the agreement on Wednesday (22), the ceasefire for the release of the hostages was expected to come into force today, but ended up being postponed due to the need to finalize the details.
The head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, traveled to Qatar last night to resolve these issues and receive the list of 50 Hamas hostages to be handed over over the next four days, all of them women and children, in exchange for their release. of 150 Palestinian prisoners, also women and children.
Under the pact, Hamas will release between 10 and 13 hostages every day during the four-day ceasefire, up to 50, at which point Israel will release the Palestinians.
If all goes well, the truce could be extended for a maximum of ten days, allowing Hamas to return 150 of the approximately 240 hostages it holds captive and Israel to release up to 300 Palestinians.
The al-Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, also confirmed that a four-day “humanitarian truce” will begin tomorrow at 2am (Brasília time), allowing for a “prisoner exchange”.
“The truce will last four days, starting Friday morning, accompanied by the cessation of all military actions by the al-Qasam Brigades of the Palestinian resistance and the Zionist enemy during that period. For every Zionist prisoner, three Palestinian prisoners, including women and children will be freed”, detailed a statement from the group.
Hamas’ military wing also confirmed that the agreement provides for the daily entry of 200 trucks of medical supplies to be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip, as well as the daily distribution of four trucks of fuel.
As part of the agreement, Israel also committed to suspending aerial surveillance by drones over the Strip for six hours a day, from 10 am to 4 pm local time, in the north of the enclave, and throughout the day in the south.
In addition, the Red Cross will be allowed to enter the enclave to provide medical assistance to hostages that have not yet been released, mostly soldiers and civilian men, who are not included in this first wave of releases, which also does not include the delivery of bodies.
Of the more than 240 people Hamas terrorists kidnapped during their brutal attack on Israeli soil on October 7, four women have already been released on “humanitarian grounds” – an American mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women; a soldier was rescued by the Army and the bodies of two hostages, a 19-year-old soldier and a 65-year-old woman, were found inside the Gaza Strip. (With EFE agency)
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