33 Israeli hostages to be released in first part of Hamas deal

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

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 Prime Minister’s Office will announce the names of the hostages to be released on specific days only after it has been confirmed that the people are ready to be sent to Israel and the families have been informed.

The remaining hostages, including military-age men and male soldiers, will be released in later phases of the deal.

This provision that was criticized by many as risking leaving the majority of the hostages in Gaza should the deal break down in later stages.

In exchange for the 33 hostages, approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released, 190 of whom were serving life sentences for serious crimes.