Hamas Announces Release of Three Israeli Detainees in Gaza as Part of Prisoner Exchange Deal
The Palestinian resistance will release three Israeli detainees on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as part of the ongoing ceasefire and exchange agreement.
Watan-Abu Ubaida, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced today, Friday, that the Palestinian resistance has decided to release three Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip tomorrow, Saturday. They are: Eliyahu Datson Yosef Sharabi, Or Abraham Lisha Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami.
For its part, the Prisoners’ Information Office affiliated with Hamas stated on Friday evening that “after the Palestinian resistance provided the names of the Israeli prisoners, they will be released tomorrow, Saturday, as part of the fifth batch of the first phase of the exchange deal, which includes the release of 183 prisoners.”
The Prisoners’ Information Office clarified in a press statement that among those to be released are 18 prisoners serving life sentences, 54 prisoners with high sentences, and 111 prisoners from Gaza who were arrested after October 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday that it had received a list of three male detainees, one of whom holds German-Israeli nationality, who will be released by Hamas on Saturday in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Similarly, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated that “the hostages (Israeli detainees) who will be released are Or Levy, who was 33 years old when he was captured on October 7, 2023, Eli Sharabi (51 years old), and the German-Israeli Ohad Ben Ami (55 years old).”
On January 19, a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel came into effect. The deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days, with negotiations in the first phase to initiate the second and third phases, mediated by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States.
The first phase stipulates the gradual release of 33 Israeli detainees in Gaza, whether alive or deceased, in exchange for an estimated 1,700 to 2,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners.
