Israelis and Palestinians on Friday anxiously awaited the next step in the 42-day Gaza cease-fire and hostages-for-prisoners swap — set to take place over the next day — as the truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to have held through its first week.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas was expected to send the names of four female hostages that it would release on Saturday. In response, Israel is expected to publish the names of the more than 100 Palestinian prisoners it would free in exchange.
Analysts said the coming weekend would be a crucial test for the agreement.
The truce also stipulated that Israeli forces would have to partly withdraw from a wide zone in central Gaza to allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to begin heading back to their homes in the devastated north.
And Hamas has also committed to supplying Israel on Saturday with information about the condition of the remaining hostages to be released during the six-week truce, said two Israeli officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.
Israel has long demanded to know which hostages were still alive after over a year in captivity in Gaza. Hamas has refused to provide the information, with some officials arguing that they could not even confirm their status before a truce allowed its fighters to move and communicate freely.
Among the four women to be released, Hamas was expected to include at least some Israeli female soldiers it abducted in its assault on Oct. 7, 2023, that set off the war. According to the cease-fire deal, the release of soldier hostages would require Israel to free some Palestinians serving long prison sentences for committing deadly attacks, which has caused consternation in Israel.
The 42-day cease-fire deal went into effect on Sunday, pausing the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to release 33 of the remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel and a partial Israeli withdrawal. During the pause, both sides agreed to discuss terms for a longer cease-fire.
Many on both sides saw the deal as a bittersweet moment. Gazans were grateful for a reprieve after 15 months of war that killed tens of thousands, even as they feared for their future in the enclave, much of which has been reduced to rubble.
Israelis experienced a moment of collective euphoria over the release of three female hostages — Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. But their joy was tempered by scenes of Hamas fighters parading through the streets of Gaza in a show of force, despite Israeli leaders’ vows to destroy the group.
The war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that the Israeli authorities said killed roughly 1,200 and saw 250 taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent military campaign against Hamas in Gaza killed at least 45,000 people, according to local health officials, whose statistics do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Roughly 94 hostages still remain in Gaza, dozens of whom are presumed dead, according to the Israeli authorities. They include Israeli soldiers, male civilians, women and Thai migrant workers.
