What we know about the release of the prisoner
A cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas this week prompted Hamas and its allies to release dozens of hostages held in Gaza a year before the war began.
About 100 hostages, alive and dead, are believed to be held captive in Gaza. Most of those captured by Hamas in 2010 October 7, 2023 In an attack that infiltrated Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking nearly 250 hostages.
Under the deal, 33 of the remaining hostages will be released during the first six-week ceasefire, the first since a week-long truce in November 2023. In return, Israel will release more than 1,000 prisoners.
According to the agreement, the first exchange of hostages and prisoners will begin before 4pm on Sunday. Another thing we know is how the plan anticipates their release.
Who are the hostages being released?
The 33 hostages to be released in the first phase include female soldiers and civilians, children, men over 50, and sick and wounded “humanitarian” cases.
Among the hostages were young female soldiers abducted from a military camp. Elders were pulled from border villages near the Gaza Strip; and two young children, one less than a year old, in the Hamas-led attack.
Israeli officials estimate that 35 of the remaining captives in Gaza are dead. But the captives have been held in secret for over a year, making it difficult to assess their condition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday night that “most” of the 33 hostages to be released under the deal are believed to be alive. According to the agreement, the living hostages will be released first, then Hamas will send the bodies in the first of the sixth and final week.
How does the release work?
According to the plan, the releases will be repeated in stages. On the first day, Hamas releases three female hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. On the seventh day, four female hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
From the 14th to the fifth week, the Palestinian prisoners were released every seven days in exchange for three male and female hostages.
The remaining hostages agreed to in the first phase will be released in the sixth week in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Also, in the sixth week after the 33 hostages were released and returned to Israel, She will release 47 prisoners, out of more than 1,000 Palestinians released in a 2011 deal.
Israeli authorities have set up three reception areas along the Gaza border to receive the hostages, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol. Those reception areas will be filled by Israeli soldiers, doctors and psychologists, the official said.
How many Palestinian prisoners will be released?
More than 1,000 – this could mean one of the largest prisoner exchanges in Israel’s history if the original deal goes through.
Dozens of Palestinians in Israel will be released within the first six weeks for each hostage, including life imprisonment.
The agreement outlines hostage-for-prisoner exchange requirements. The accord calls for the release of 30 female or minor Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of a living female hostage or a civilian under the age of 18.
The two sides will exchange every living Israeli civilian aged 50 and over for 30 Palestinian prisoners. A surviving female Israeli soldier demands the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners. A total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were released along with nine wounded or ill Israeli male civilians.
Israel will release about 1,000 Gazans held during the war in October 2023 on the condition that they do not participate in the Hamas-led offensive.
How many hostages have been released?
In the year In November 2023, a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas resulted in the release of 105 hostages – mostly women and children. Instead, Israel released 240 Palestinian women and juvenile prisoners from Israeli prisons.
At the beginning of the war, Hamas unilaterally released four hostages – two Israeli-American women and two Israeli women. Israel has managed to free eight hostages in a military operation, at least one of which was the result of a brutal bombing and a Palestinian attack.
The Israeli government announced that more than 35 bodies were returned to Israel during the war.
How many American hostages are left in Gaza?
Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said in a statement Tuesday that seven Americans remain in custody. It was believed to be Aidan Alexander and Sagi Dekel-Chen. Alive until December According to the American Jewish Committee.
Some of the remaining five are said to have died early in the war. Their bodies remain in Gaza.
Euphrates Livni Contribution reporting.
