Hamas on Friday announced the names of four Israeli women hostages whom the militant group is set to release Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The four women are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, Hamas said. All four women are Israeli soldiers who were abducted from the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its attack.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that it had received the list via mediators and that its response would be provided later.
The exchange is expected to begin on Saturday afternoon. On Jan. 19, the first day of the ceasefire, Hamas released three Israeli women in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
In the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as increased humanitarian aid and a withdrawal of the Israeli military from some parts of Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war began with the Hamas attack on Israel in which the militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but has previously said more than half of those killed have been women and children. Israel’s response has also displaced the majority of the territory’s population and destroyed most of the enclave.
Ahead of the Saturday exchange, the United Nations Human Rights Office warned on Friday that increased violence in the occupied West Bank could threaten the ceasefire in Gaza.
Since Tuesday, Israeli operations in the West Bank have killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured 40 others, “most of them reportedly unarmed,” United Nations Human Rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said.
“It is very concerning that what’s happening today in the West Bank may have an impact on the ceasefire in Gaza. It is imperative that the ceasefire in Gaza holds,” he said.
Hundreds of Jenin residents fled their homes as the Israeli military destroyed several houses on the third day of a major operation in the West Bank city on Thursday.
Israeli officials said the Jenin operation was aimed at what the military said were Iranian-backed militant groups in the refugee camp next to the city, which has been a hub for armed Palestinian groups for years.
“We are also concerned by repeated comments from some Israeli officials about plans to expand settlements further still and a fresh breach of international law,” Al-Kheetan said. “We recall again that the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into territories it occupies also amounts to a war crime.”
Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the center of an independent state, since the 1967 Middle East war.
Most countries view the Jewish settlements that Israel has built there as illegal, but Israel cites historical and Biblical ties to the land.
Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
