Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages to be freed as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

24 January 2025, 15:25 | Updated: 24 January 2025, 16:19

Hamas has released the names of the latest hostages expected to be freed as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The group said four hostages are set to be released on Saturday - bringing the total released to seven out of an agreed 33 during the first phase of the deal.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, Liri Albag were the four names given by Hamas, as the exchange of hostages and prisoners continues.

Israel is exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners during phase one of the deal, with Israel yet to confirm the list released by Hamas.

The hostages released included British citizen Emily Damari, with the ceasefire holding into its second week.

The 33 to be released in the first phase will include women, children, sick people and those over 50 - almost all civilians, though the deal also commits Hamas to freeing all living female soldiers in Phase 1.

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Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, the 33 hostages are set to be freed over a six week period.

It remains unknown how many hostages have died of the roughly 250 people abducted on October 7.

A number of the hostages are thought to have died in captivity in Gaza.

It comes as relatives of hostages still being held by militants in Gaza have called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure all remaining captives are freed - while also appealing to US President Donald Trump to continue pressing for their release.

As a fragile six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its sixth day, Israelis waited anxiously for the names of the next four hostages who will be released from among the more than 90 still held in Gaza.

In the Palestinian enclave, civilians in the central and southern part of the Gaza Strip hoping to return to the remnants of their homes in the battered north face an agonising wait.

Israel believes about a third, or possibly as many as half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Hamas has not released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died.

The first three Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of the ceasefire that has halted the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and wide swathes of the territory have been destroyed.

According to the deal, on Friday Hamas is to announce the names of the next four hostages to be released on Saturday, after which Israel will also release a list of which Palestinian prisoners will be freed.

The hostages were among about 250 men, women and children captured by militants who burst across the border into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people in an attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

About 100 were released during a brief ceasefire in November that year, while the bodies of around three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued by the army.

Hamas will release living hostages first, but could release some bodies if they don't have enough living hostages in this category. Male soldiers are not expected to be released in the first phase.

Under the terms of the deal, Palestinians in Gaza will have more freedom of movement from the north to the south of the enclave. Civilians in the south will be allowed to take a coastal road to northern Gaza from Saturday, when Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from the key route and Hamas is set to release the next four Israeli hostages.

Those in other parts of the strip seized on the ceasefire this week to reunite with scattered family members, picking their way through vast swathes of rubble and trying to salvage what remained of their homes and their belongings. Those displaced from the north have had to wait.