Hamas militant group names four female Israeli soldiers it will release from Gaza this weekend

 Hamas has published the names of four female Israeli soldiers being held captive in Gaza, who the militant group says it plans to release this weekend as part of the continuing ceasefire agreement between the armed group and Israel.

In the hours following the release of the names, the office of Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to indicate it believed Hamas had breached the fragile ceasefire deal because the four names did not include that of the remaining female civilian hostage in Gaza.

 

Israeli media later reported the Israeli prime minister had consulted his security chiefs and decided to move forward, believing Hamas’s decision to release female soldiers before female civilians to be a violation of the ceasefire agreement but not one serious enough to end the process entirely.

 

The agreement requires Hamas in the first phase of the deal to release all the female civilian hostages before moving on to the category of female soldiers, followed by older hostages and then people who are seriously ill, in return for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

All those named by Hamas for the next exchange are female Israel Defense Forces (IDF) observation troops who were abducted in Nahal Oz during the group’s surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when their base was overrun.

“As part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the [Ezzedine] al-Qassam Brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers,” Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, said on Telegram.

The four women, who have been held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months, were named Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.

Arbel Yehoud, the last female civilian hostage being held in Gaza, who Israeli officials earlier this week said they expected to be released this weekend, is not on the list.

There has been speculation that Yehoud, who holds joint German and Israeli citizenship, is not being held by Hamas but by another militant faction, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

According to the deal, Israel is now supposed to publish a list of which Palestinians being held in Israeli jails will be released this weekend.

The first exchange took place on Sunday with the release of three Israeli civilian hostages and 90 Palestinians. Dozens of Israelis and hundreds of Palestinians are to be freed, while more humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.