Israel confirms three more Hamas-held hostages to be released
- 31 January, 11:19
Israeli officials have confirmed that Hamas militant group will set free three more hostages on Saturday in the fourth batch of the prisoner swap deal between Tel-Aviv and the group.
A spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing said that Yarden Bibas, 35, Keith Siegel, 65, and Ofer Kalderon, 54, will be released in the next exchange, expected this weekend.
The release of the hostages is part of the recent cease-fire deal that ended nearly 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas. The war was sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 during which up to 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people were taken captive.
The fragile ceasefire deal stipulates the return of captured Israeli hostages in exchange of hundreds of Palestinians most of whom had been serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.
Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages must be returned in the first six weeks of the truce that was reached this month. Fifteen hostages, including the five Thai workers, and 400 prisoners have so far been exchanged.
The war that was triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel in 2023, was followed by Israel’s military campaign that killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials and caused severe shortages of medicine, food and fuel in the region. The war also forced around one and half million Palestinians out of their homes in northern part of Gaza where Israel launched ground operation in the first weeks of the war and ordered complete evacuation of residents. This week saw the return of tens of hundreds of Palestinians to war-torn Gaza in line with the peace deal that went into effect on January 19.
