Hamas has reportedly committed to publishing ahead of time the names of the four hostages it is due to release on Saturday.
The Quds News Network, a Hamas mouthpiece, reported on Friday that the terrorist group “will publish the names of the female hostages to be released tomorrow.”
According to the terms of the ceasefire deal with Israel that went into effect on Jan. 19, Hamas is also due to publish on Friday a list detailing who is still alive among the remaining 26 hostages who are part of the deal’s first phase. The Quds report did not mention this list.
Arbel Yehud, 29, held by Salafist terrorists in Gaza, and Shiri Bibas, the mother of abducted toddler Kfir and Ariel Bibas, have been named in the Israeli media as likely to be released on Saturday.
The deal concerns 97 hostages, living and dead, whom Hamas was believed to hold when it went into effect. In the first phase of the deal, Israel is to gradually free 733 Palestinian imprisoned terrorists and more than 1,000 detained terrorists, according to an agreed-upon schedule over 42 days, for 33 hostages.
Three of the hostages were released on Jan. 19, as were 90 Palestinian terrorists. The remaining 64 hostages are slated to be freed in the second phase of the deal, whose schedule has yet to be negotiated.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the telephone with the families of the three hostages freed on Jan. 19: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. Their relatives thanked Netanyahu for reaching the deal and he vowed not to leave a single hostage, or the remains of dead hostages, behind, according to the statement.