Hamas set to release three Israeli hostages as Gaza ceasefire holds

Israel has received from Hamas, through mediating countries, the names of three Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza on Saturday as part of a ceasefire-hostage deal, the prime minister's office said on Friday in a statement.

In exchange, Hamas said Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including 18 serving life sentences, 54 serving long sentences and 111 detained in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The three Israeli hostages, kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, are Ohad Ben Ami, 56, a dual Israeli-German citizen; Eli Sharabi, 52; and Or Levy, 34.

According to Israeli media reports, Ben Ami's wife was also kidnapped on October 7, but was released after 54 days in captivity as part of a previous hostage deal.

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.

Despite hiccups, the 42-day ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange worked out with U.S. backing and mediation by Egypt and Qatar has held up.

But fears the deal might collapse before all the hostages are free have grown since U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise call for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and for the enclave to be handed to the United States and developed into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

Arab states and Palestinian groups have rejected the proposal, which critics said would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, welcomed Trump's intervention and his defense minister ordered the military to make plans to allow Palestinians who wished to leave Gaza to do so.

Negotiations on a second phase began this week aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation for a final end to the war.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 as hostages.

In response, Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the narrow enclave.

(With input from agencies)