Gaza City (TDI): Hamas and Israel are due to exchange hostages for prisoners later on Saturday (today), the fifth such swap since both sides agreed to a fragile ceasefire which came into effect on 19 January.
Hamas has said it will release Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy, three men captured during the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.
Sharabi was taken captive from Kibbutz Beeri, one of the hardest-hit communal farms in the Hamas attack.
His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters were killed in the attack.
Father of three Ben Ami was taken hostage from the same area, where he was the kibbutz accountant.
His wife, who was also captured, was freed during a brief ceasefire in November 2023.
Levy, a computer programmer from the city of Rishon Lezion, was pulled by the attackers from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. He lost his wife in the attack.
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In return, Israel says it will release 183 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.
The terms of the agreement’s first six-week phase call for Hamas to gradually free a total of thirty-three Israeli hostages in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has so far released 18 hostages, including 5 Thai nationals captured in Israel during the attack.
Israel has released 383 Palestinian prisoners in accordance with the agreement.
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Details of the planned exchange came as US President Donald Trump continued talking up his widely criticised plan to relocate all Palestinians out of Gaza and redevelop the enclave as a global travel destination.
