JERUSALEM (AFP) – Hamas and Israel will conduct their fourth swap of the Gaza ceasefire on Saturday, with militants releasing three Israelis including the father of the two youngest hostages, in exchange for 183 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Since the truce took effect on January 19, Gaza militants have released 15 hostages after holding them in captivity since October 7, 2023.
In return, Israel will release 183 Palestinians held captive, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said, more than double the initially reported figure of 90.
Since the ceasefire began, Israel has freed hundreds of Palestinians held captive, many of them women and minors.
During their attack on Israel, which ignited the Gaza war, Hamas militants took 251 hostages. Of those, 79 remain in Gaza, including at least 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Saturday’s swap is the second exchange this week and the fourth since the ceasefire began.
The hostage handovers have sometimes been chaotic, particularly during the most recent exchange in the southern city of Khan Yunis on Thursday, where scenes of disorder prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the situation as “shocking”.
Later on Thursday, Israeli authorities released 110 Palestinians from Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, including high-profile former militant commander Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, who received a hero’s welcome in Ramallah.
“The situation of the prisoners is very difficult, and we hope for their urgent release,” Zubeidi said at a gathering in Ramallah on Friday.
