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Hamas has published the names of four Israeli women being held captive in Gaza who it says it plans to release this weekend as part of the continuing ceasefire agreement between the armed group and Israel.
Following the release of the names, however, the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to indicate it believed Hamas was in breach of the fragile ceasefire deal because the four names did not include that of the remaining female civilian hostage in Gaza.
In addition to a short statement from Netanyahu’s office saying it had received the list, a number of Israeli media outlets reported that the Israeli prime minister believed it was a breach of the agreement and that Israeli officials were discussing how to respond.
The agreement requires Hamas to release all the female civilian hostages before moving on to the category of female soldiers, followed by older hostages and then people who are seriously ill.
All those named are female Israel Defense Forces (IDF) observation troops who were abducted by Hamas in Nahal Oz during the group’s surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when their base was overrun.
“As part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers,” said Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, on Telegram.
The four women, who have been held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months, were named as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.
Not on the list, however, was Arbel Yehoud, the last female civilian hostage being held in Gaza, who Israeli officials earlier this week said they expected to be released this weekend.
Under the first phase of the deal, covering the so-called humanitarian category, female civilians are supposed to be released first, followed by women soldiers, then older and sick people.
There has been speculation, however, that Yehoud, who holds joint German and Israeli citizenship, is not being held by Hamas but by another militant faction, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
While Netanyahu’s office confirmed Hamas had supplied the names of those to be released to mediators, there was no immediate confirmation of the names.
According to the deal, Israel is now supposed to publish a list of which Palestinians being held in Israeli jails it will release this weekend.
The first exchange took place on Sunday with the release of three Israeli civilian hostages and 90 Palestinians.
Dozens of Israelis and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed, while more humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.
Israel believes about a third, or possibly as many as half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Hamas has not, however, released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died.
In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 hostages are expected to be released gradually in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The 33 to be released in the first phase will include women, children, sick people and those over 50 – almost all civilians, though the deal also commits Hamas to freeing all living female soldiers in phase one.
The four female soldiers worked in an IDF surveillance unit near Nahal Oz on the border with Gaza, where the all-female “spotters” unit was tasked with watching activity in the strip.
Family members of other spotters taken hostage by Hamas militants during the 7 October attack said the female soldiers had reported seeing suspicious activity in Gaza before the attack, including militants practising using parachutes, but that their concerns were repeatedly overruled.
Footage later circulated of the moment Palestinian militants took six female spotters captive at the Nahal Oz base, stirring outrage in Israel. It showed a woman, who appeared to be Naama Levy, facing a wall as a fighter bent down to tie her hands and ankles, her face bloodied.
Levy, aged 19 at the time of her capture, was pictured lined up next to several other female soldiers taken captive by a large group of fighters who shouted around them as they looked up, afraid.
Hamas released a video of 19-year-old Liri Albag three weeks ago, stills of which indicated that she was pale and appeared exhausted, as she called on the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire deal. Albag’s parents appealed to Netanyahu in response, telling him to “make decisions as if your own children were there”.
