Israel-Hamas ceasefire | Highlights: Israel publishes list of 700 Palestinians to be released under truce deal

Israel’s Justice Ministry has reportedly published a list of over 700 Palestinian prisoners who are to be released under the ceasefire deal pausing the war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

The list was published early on Saturday, just hours after Israel’s full Cabinet approved the ceasefire deal, under which militants in Gaza will release dozens of hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

(via AP)

In his first public comment on the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, welcoming the agreement, said he hopes it will hold.

Putin spoke after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, and said they touched on the Gaze ceasefire during their talks at the Kremlin.

He said that in addition to freeing Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the deal must open the way for more food, fuel and medicine into Gaza.

“At the same time, it is important not to weaken efforts to comprehensively resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the generally recognized international legal basis,” an Associate Press report quoted Putin.

After the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, President Mahmoud Abbas called for Israel to fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip, saying that Palestine is ready to “take full responsibility” in Gaza.

The Palestinian President said, “Gaza is an integral part of Palestine. The Presidency stands firm on the need for an immediate ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.” Read full report

Israel is preparing for the return of the hostages from Gaza with the expectation that many are likely to have severe, life-threatening complications after more than a year in captivity in Gaza, AP reported.

Israel's full Cabinet was meeting Friday evening on the Gaza ceasefire deal that would pause the fighting and release dozens of hostages held by Hamas militants along with Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, reported AP.

Under the deal, 33 of the hostages are set to be released over six weeks in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The 33 are women, children, men over 50 and sick or wounded people. Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on Day 1 of the deal, four more on Day 7 and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.

International mediators said this week that 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released in the first stage of a ceasefire deal for the Palestinian territory agreed with Israel.

Below are the key details of the deal:

• Militants will release 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase of the agreement, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said.
• An Israeli official said the final number would depend on how many of the 33 hostages are alive.
• The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners, the majority of them women, who are earmarked for release in the first exchange.

Israel’s full Cabinet was meeting Friday evening on a Gaza ceasefire deal after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas and release dozens of hostages, reported AP.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: The Palestinian Authority on Friday sent a team of senior officials to Cairo to join ongoing negotiations being led by Egypt to finalise details regarding who will control the Rafah border crossing once the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas comes into place, reported The Times of Israel.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: The Israeli justice ministry published a partial list of the Palestinian prisoners who will be released during the first phase of the hostage deal with Hamas.

The list includes 95 women and children who are being held in Israeli jails, most of whom were arrested after the October 7 attack, reported The Jerusalem Post.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: The Israel prison service said on Friday it was taking measures to prevent any "public displays of joy" when Palestinian prisoners are released as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

"The commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, Major General Kobi Yakobi, instructed that to prevent public displays of joy in Ashkelon and other areas of Israel, the escort from 'Shikma' Prison will not be handled by civilian buses of the (International Committee of the) Red Cross," a statement said, as quoted by AFP.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Israeli authorities have stated that 65 more hostages are currently held in Gaza, apart from the 33 on the first list of hostages in the first stage of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Ahead of the hostage exchange on Sunday, families of hostages have expressed their anticipation for a successful deal and a second phase to the ceasefire as well.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Gaza's health ministry said on Friday that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours, ahead of a ceasefire that is set to take place on Sunday.

The fatalities in the last 24 hours take the overall war death toll to 46,876.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Israel's security cabinet on Friday recommended approval of a ceasefire that would pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of hostages held by militants. The deal will now go to the full Cabinet.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: The Israeli prison service has stated that it is gearing up to process the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, reported The Times of Israel.

Israeli authorities will be in-charge of the first part of the prisoners’ transport, not the Red Cross, to ensure that “the terrorists do not deviate from the strict security guidelines and refrain from any expression of joy within Israeli territory.”, as per an official statement.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for Occupied Palestinian Territories said on Friday that any failure to finalise a Gaza ceasefire would be “utterly devastating”.

He added that thousands of trucks were waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt and other neighbouring countries to supply food, medicine, fuel and other aid to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the area.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: French President Emmanuel Macron announced on social media that two French-Israeli citizens, Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi, were on the list of 33 hostages, who will be released as a part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

“We remain mobilized without pause to ensure their return to their families,” Macron wrote.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Four hostage family members held a press conference at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, along with several other protestors to demand that the Israeli government ensure the complete fulfilment of the hostage deal, reported Times of Israel.

The grandson of Oded Lifshitz, 84, who is on the list of 33 hostages, said, “We didn’t believe that 15 months would pass that a great-grandfather is held hostage and the world doesn’t help him and the Israeli government doesn’t help him and I pray for the moment that he will return on his own two legs and we’ll welcome him with love."

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: The first hostage release, comprising three women captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, will be carried out on Sunday at 4 pm Jerusalem time ( 1 pm IST), reported The Times of Israel.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Israeli prime minister Netanyahu's office has said that despite the delays in signing the deal and its approval by the government, hostages are still expected to be released from Gaza on Sunday, reported The Times of Israel.

According to an official statement, once the ceasefire deal has been approved by both the security cabinet and the full cabinet, “the release of hostages can be carried out according to the planned outline.

The security cabinet is meeting now and the full government is expected to meet tomorrow evening to approve the deal.

The following is a list of the 33 hostages that are due to be released in the first stage of the ceasefire deal with the Hamas, according to Times of Israel.

The list is not in order of release, and does not indicate the condition of the hostages. Israel believes that most of the 33 are alive.

Each day, once the hostages have been received by IDF troops and the families are updated, the Prime Minister’s Office will issue a statement with the names of the captives that have been released.

1. Liri Albag

2. Itzhik Elgarat

3. Karina Ariev

4. Ohad Ben-Ami

5. Ariel Bibas

6. Yarden Bibas

7. Kfir Bibas

8. Shiri Silberman Bibas

9. Agam Berger

10. Romi Gonen

11. Danielle Gilboa

12. Emily Damari

13. Sagui Dekel-Chen

14. Yair Horn

15. Omer Wenkert

16. Alexander Troufanov

17. Arbel Yehud

18. Ohad Yahalomi

19. Eliya Cohen

20. Or Levy

21. Naama Levy

22. Oded Lifshitz

23. Gadi Moshe Moses

24. Avera Mengistu

25. Shlomo Mansur

26. Keith Siegel

27. Tsahi Idan

28. Ofer Calderon

29. Tal Shoham

30. Doron Steinbrecher

31. Omer Shem-Tov

32. Hisham Al Sayed

33. Eli Sharabi

The Yemen-based Houthis signaled a pause in their months-long attacks on commercial ships following a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

In his first comments since the Gaza truce accord was announced on Wednesday, Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi said that the group would follow the agreement, suggesting a halt in its campaign on vessels and on Israel. Still, he left the door open for resuming the attacks, which would likely mean shipping firms will remain very cautious of returning to the Red Sea.

“We will continue to follow the stages of implementing the agreement,” Al-Houthi said in a speech Thursday.

“Any Israeli breach, massacre, or siege — we will be immediately ready to provide military support to Palestinians," he added.

He didn’t clarify if he was referring to attacks on Israel or on ships.

International criminal court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, has defended his decision to bring war crimes allegations against Israel’s prime minister, saying Israel had made “no real effort” to investigate the allegations itself.

In an interview with Reuters, he stood by his decision over the arrest warrant despite a vote last week by the US House of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a move he described as “unwanted and unwelcome”.

UNRWA, the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency, acting director of affairs in Gaza Sam Rose has said that the agency is getting ready to get aid to the people in the strip as ceasefire deal done.

“Many of our warehouses have been inaccessible for several months, but we’re working to prepare to get them ready. We have the distribution networks. We have the staff on the ground,” he said.

Al Jazeera reports, citing Israeli media Ynet and Walla, that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is meeting with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich over his opposition to the planned Gaza ceasefire.