Israelis await names of next four hostages to be released by Hamas
The ceasefire continues to hold for now.
Relatives of hostages still being held by militants in Gaza have called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure all remaining captives are freed – while also appealing to US President Donald Trump to continue pressing for their release.
As a fragile six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its sixth day, Israelis waited anxiously for the names of the next four hostages who will be released from among the more than 90 still held in Gaza.
In the Palestinian enclave, civilians in the central and southern part of the Gaza Strip hoping to return to the remnants of their homes in the battered north face an agonising wait.
Israel believes about a third, or possibly as many as half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Hamas has not released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died.
In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 hostages are expected to be released gradually in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The first three Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of the ceasefire that has halted the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and wide swathes of the territory have been destroyed.
According to the deal, on Friday Hamas is to announce the names of the next four hostages to be released on Saturday, after which Israel will also release a list of which Palestinian prisoners will be freed.
The hostages were among about 250 men, women and children captured by militants who burst across the border into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people in an attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
About 100 were released during a brief ceasefire in November that year, while the bodies of around three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued by the army.
The 33 to be released in the first phase will include women, children, sick people and those over 50 – almost all civilians, though the deal also commits Hamas to freeing all living female soldiers in Phase 1.
Hamas will release living hostages first, but could release some bodies if they don’t have enough living hostages in this category. Male soldiers are not expected to be released in the first phase.
Under the terms of the deal, Palestinians in Gaza will have more freedom of movement from the north to the south of the enclave. Civilians in the south will be allowed to take a coastal road to northern Gaza from Saturday, when Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from the key route and Hamas is set to release the next four Israeli hostages.
Those in other parts of the strip seized on the ceasefire this week to reunite with scattered family members, picking their way through vast swathes of rubble and trying to salvage what remained of their homes and their belongings. Those displaced from the north have had to wait.
