A list of the 33 hostages due to be freed in the first stage of a ceasefire was released on Friday morning as Israel’s Security Cabinet met to discuss the ceasefire. In the background, the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, turns two on Saturday.
The list does not imply the order of their release or their condition. Authorities believe many or most of hostages listed are alive.
As returning hostages are received by soldiers and families updated each day of the ceasefire, the Prime Minister’s office will announce the identities of the returnees.
Among the names on the list are Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri, and their children, Ariel, and Kfir, the youngest hostage who was seven months old when the family was taken captive from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Shiri and the children were supposed to be released along with 105 other women and children during the temporary ceasefire of November 2023. Kfir’s second birthday is on Saturday. It is unknown if they are still alive.
The 33 hostages to be released in the first phase are Liri Albag, Itzhik Elgarat, Karina Ariev, Ohad Ben-Ami, Ariel Bibas, Yarden Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Silberman Bibas, Agam Berger, Romi Gonen, Danielle Gilboa, Emily Damari, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert, Alexander Troufanov, Arbel Yehud, Ohad Yahalomi, Eliya Cohen, Or Levy, Naama Levy, Oded Lifshitz, Gadi Moshe Moses, Avera Mengistu, Shlomo Mansur, Keith Siegel, Tsahi Idan, Ofer Calderon, Tal Shoham, Doron Steinbrecher, Omer Shem-Tov, Hisham Al Sayed, and Eli Sharabi.
Mengistu and Sayed, have been held in Gaza since 2015 and 2014 respectively,
The 33 will be freed in exchange for 110 Arab terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.
Following the Security Cabinet’s discussions, the deal is to be ratified by the full Cabinet. That meeting is due to be held on Saturday night.
The ceasefire would potentially lead to the release of hundreds of Arab terrorists imprisoned in Israel. While many would be sent back to their homes in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, high-profile prisoners will be deported. After Israeli authorities publish a list of prisoners to be released, terror victims will have an opportunity to file legal petitions.
The most contentious aspect of the agreement is that the fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 95 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
