JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas identified three more Israeli hostages it plans to free as part of the fragile ceasefire agreement, a sign the deal was moving forward Friday even as U.S. and Israeli officials continued calls to relocate Gaza's population after the war.
The three men, captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, are set to be freed Saturday, in the fifth exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel.
An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive material, confirmed that the hostages scheduled for release are: Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34.
Israel is set to release 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday to fulfill its side of the agreement, according to the Hamas-linked prisoners' office in Gaza. The terms of the deal's first six-week phase call for Hamas to gradually free a total of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Sharabi was taken captive from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters were killed by militants.
Ben Ami, a father of three, was taken hostage from the same community, where he was the kibbutz accountant. His wife, who was also captured, was released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023.
Levy, a computer programmer from the city of Rishon Lezion, was pulled by militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His wife was killed during the attack. The couple's toddler son has been under the care of family members.
Hamas has so far released 18 hostages, including five Thai citizens captured in Israel during the attack. Last week, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in accordance with the deal.
Details of the planned exchange came as U.S. President Donald Trump continued talking up his widely criticized proposal to move all Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop it as an international travel destination.
The idea, which Trump characterized Friday as a “real estate transaction," has been roundly rejected by the region’s Arab governments and by Palestinians themselves, who say forcing them from their homes would constitute ethnic cleansing.
But Trump insisted Friday that his idea “had been very well received." After calling originally for “permanent” resettlement of the Palestinians, his newest comments left the question of duration unresolved.
“We don’t want to see everybody move back and then move out in 10 years” because of continued unrest, he said.
Israeli forces have withdrawn from most of Gaza, as specified by the ceasefire agreement, but remain in border areas. The military has warned Palestinians to avoid areas where troops are operating and has opened fire on people accused of violating the terms of the agreement.
Negotiators have yet to agree on terms for the deal's second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in return for more prisoners and a lasting ceasefire.
The Palestinian prisoners' office said that of those set for release Saturday, 18 are serving life sentences, 54 have long-term sentences, and 111 are Gazans who were detained after the Oct. 7 attack.
A list of those expected to be released, distributed Friday by Palestinian authorities, included Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49, who has been imprisoned for nearly 21 years over his involvement in Hamas militant attacks that killed dozens of Israelis in the early 2000s. He is serving 18 life sentences.
Also on the list is Jamal al-Tawil, 61, a Hamas politician and former mayor of the West Bank city of Al-Bireh who has spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prisons. Since his most recent arrest in 2021, he has been held without trial for allegedly organizing violent riots.
___
AP reporter Isabel DeBre in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP