Gaza ceasefire: Hamas to release 4 female Israel soldiers, reveals their names

Hamas on Friday announced the names of the next four Israeli hostages it will release under the Gaza ceasefire deal with the country.

They have been identified as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. They are also members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The abductees will be set free on Saturday. However, there was no immediate reaction from the Israeli government.

Gaza ceasefire

Under the agreement, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, the first phase of the ceasefire will last for six weeks. During this period, Hamas will release 33 of the 251 Israelis it abducted on October 7, 2023, while Israel will set free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

As many as 90 Palestinians walked free in exchange for the first three hostages: two Israeli citizens and a British-Israeli national.

After the latest releases, three hostages will walk free for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 abductees will be returned on the final, sixth week of phase.

Israel is to release 50 Palestinians for every female hostage set free by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which runs Gaza.

Israel launched the Gaza War following the October 2023 Hamas attack, when militants killed 1,200 people and took hostages with it to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the health authorities there.