Palestinian militant group Hamas announced the names on Friday of four Israeli female soldier hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag would be released on Saturday, the group said.
The exchange, expected to begin on Saturday afternoon local time, follows the release on the ceasefire’s first day last Sunday of .
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the list had been received from the mediators. Israel’s response would be presented later, it said in a statement.
Israeli media reported that the list of hostages slated for release was not in line with the original agreement, but it was not immediately clear whether this would have any impact on the planned exchange.
Later on Friday, a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency Israel had asked through the mediators that the group replace one of the soldiers, Albag, with a female civilian, Arbel Yehoud.
Asked why the switch had been requested, he replied: “It is technical and has to do with the situation in the field,” without elaborating.
In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier released, officials have said. That suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for the four soldiers.
The Hamas prisoners’ media office said it expected to get the names of 200 Palestinians to be freed on Saturday in the coming hours. It said the list was expected to include 120 prisoners serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other lengthy sentences.
Since the release of the first three women on Sunday and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel says 94 Israelis and foreigners remain held in Gaza.
Phased agreement
, halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.
In the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
