Jerusalem, Feb 8 The Israeli Defence Forces on Saturday afternoon said that the country's Air Force has completed its preparations to receive the abductees returning to Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said late Friday night that it has received the names of three Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas from Gaza on Saturday as part of a ceasefire-hostage deal.
"As part of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the return of the kidnapped, forces from Division 162, Division 143 and Division 99 in the Southern Command were deployed to several points in the Gaza Strip to strengthen the layer of defence for residents of the western Negev and the State of Israel," read a statement issued by the IDF.
Hamas had said that, in exchange, Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli-German citizen Ohad Ben Ami (56), Eli Sharabi (52) and Or Levy (34) are the three Israeli hostages returning home on Saturday after they were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Reports cited that Ben Ami's wife was also kidnapped on the same day but was released after 54 days in captivity as part of a previous hostage deal.
The Prisoners' Media Office affiliated with Hamas said on Friday that Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners. According to a press statement, the list includes 18 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 54 prisoners serving long sentences, and 111 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the October 7 attack.
This will be the fifth hostage-prisoner exchange under the first stage of the ceasefire agreement. The previous four swaps resulted in the release of 18 hostages from Gaza and around 600 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Effective on January 19, the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement stipulates that Hamas release 33 hostages, while Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
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