The Hamas militant group on Friday published the names of four hostages it said it would release the following day as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate confirmation of the names from Israel. The hostages are to be freed Saturday in exchange for the release of dozens of Palestinians imprisoned or detained by Israel.
Relatives of hostages still being held by militants in Gaza had earlier Friday called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that all remaining captives are freed, while also appealing to US President Donald Trump to continue pressing for their release.
As a fragile six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its sixth day, Israelis were waiting anxiously for the names of the next four hostages who will be released from among the more than 90 still held in Gaza.
In the Palestinian enclave, civilians in the central and southern part of the Gaza Strip faced an agonising wait before they can return to the remnants of their home in the battered north.Israel believes about a third, or possibly as many as half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Hamas has not released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died.
Dear President Trump, first of all we want to say thank you for the happy moments we felt this week. But we want to tell you we still have 94 hostages, we need them all at home, said Ayelet Samerano, whose son Yonatan Samerano is among those still being held.
Please do not stop. Please continue to press and do everything so that all the 94 hostages will come home immediately.
In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 hostages are expected to be released gradually in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The first three Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of the ceasefire that has halted the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza. Wide swathes of the territory have been destroyed, while more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not differentiate between combatants and civilians but say more than half are women and children.
According to the deal, on Friday Hamas was to announce the names of the next four hostages to be released on Saturday, after which Israel will also release a list of which Palestinian prisoners will be freed.
The hostages were among about 250 men, women and children captured by militants who burst across the border into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people in an attack that sparked the war in Gaza. About 100 were released during a brief ceasefire in November that year, while the bodies of around three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued by the army.
