Israeli security cabinet approves hostage deal with Hamas

The ceasefire is expected to go in effect at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, with the first three hostages, women, to be freed around 4 p.m.

By World Israel News and JNS

Israel’s Security Cabinet met in Jerusalem on Friday and recommended that the full Cabinet approve the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas.

The accord’s first stage is to see the phased release of 33 hostages—alive or dead—over a six-week period starting on Sunday, in return for the release of about 1,000 Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.

The names of the 33 hostages to be released in the first part of the negotiated agreement have been published.

There is no indication which of the following hostages are still alive, and the medical condition of most is not yet known.

The names are Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Ohad Ben Ami, the four members of the Bibas family, Yarden, Shiri, Ariel, Kfir, Agam Berger, and Romi Gonen.

Other names include: Daniella Gilboa, Emily Damari, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert, Alexander Troufanov, Arbel Yehud, Ohad Yahalomi, Eliya Cohen, Or Levy, Naama Levy, Oded Lifshitz, Gadi Moshe Mozes, Avera Mengistu, Shlomo Mansour, Keith Samuel Siegel, Tsahi Idan, Ofer Calderon, Tal Shoham, Doron Steinbrecher, Omer Shem-Tov, Itzik Elgarat, Hisham al-Sayed, and Eli Sharabi.

The first hostages expected to be released are the Bibas children and civilian women followed by IDF female soldiers, men over 50, as well as injured and ill captives.

Israeli officials have warned that Hamas has shown itself untrustworthy and has engaged in psychological warfare in the past, therefore, there is no guarantee that Hamas will adhere to any plans to release hostages or that the names on the list will reflect the actual captives who are freed.

The ceasefire is expected to go in effect at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, with the first three hostages, women, to be freed around 4 p.m. Their names were slated to be revealed Saturday afternoon by Hamas, 24 hours before their release.

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. Two mentally ill Israelis who entered the Strip on their own are also being held by the terrorists, as are the bodies of two slain IDF soldiers.

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 southern Israel which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw another 250 abducted to the Gaza Strip, in the single worst attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.