Who will be the 50 hostages that Hamas will release after an agreement with Israel?

The world is watching with anticipation the agreement that Israel and Hamas have reached on the release of several hostages who join the Islamist movement.

The agreement includes a four-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of 150 Palestinian prisoners; in return, Hamas agrees to release at least 50 hostages.

Israel approves deal to free hostages in Gaza

“The government has approved the broad outlines of the first phase of an agreement, under which at least fifty kidnapped people (women and children) will be released for four days, during which there will be a lull in the fighting,” Israel reported.

After weeks of negotiations mediated by Qatar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government accepted the deal after a meeting that lasted almost all night on Tuesday.

According to regional media, the ceasefire will begin at 08:00 GMT on Thursday.

Netanyahu said accepting the deal was “a complicated decision, but it is the right decision.”

A White House official said three Americans, including a three-year-old girl, will be among those released.

US President Joe Biden said he was “extremely pleased”.

The agreement was celebrated by major powers such as Germany, China, France, Great Britain and Russia.

Egypt, which took part in the talks, called the negotiations “a success” and Turkey said it hoped it would help “end the conflict.”

This was said by a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs AFP the modalities of the pact. “A number of hostages will be released every day (…) until the number of 50 on the fourth day” of the ceasefire, Majed Al Ansari said.

This was said by a senior Hamas official AFP that “an initial exchange of 10 hostages for 30 prisoners could take place on Thursday.”

After this first phase, other exchanges could take place during an extension of the ceasefire, for the release of a total of 100 hostages against that of 300 Palestinian prisoners, Israel said.

Identity of 210 of 240 Hamas hostages

The AFP agency, through interviews with family members and media reports, was able to confirm the identities of 210 of the nearly 240 people abducted on October 7 during Hamas attacks on Israeli territory.

In addition to three Americans, one or two French hostages will also be released. Hamas had already released four female hostages and a female soldier was rescued by Israeli forces. Two others were found dead by Israeli forces in Gaza: soldier Noa Marciano, 19, and Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old former nurse.

At least 35 of the kidnapped people are children. Eighteen were ten years old or younger at the time of the Hamas attack.

“Very close” to releasing between “50 and 100” hostages in exchange for the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners

One of the youngest hostages is Kfir Bibas, a boy who was just nine months old when he was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border, along with his four-year-old brother Ariel and his parents Yarden and Shiri.

Shiri appears in a video from the day of the attack, seen by her family, with her children in her arms and surrounded by armed men.

Some children have spent years in captivity, such as Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli who served for nine years. The little girl was sleeping with a friend on the Beeri kibbutz when she was kidnapped, her father said.

Yoni Asher, whose wife Doron, daughters Raz, four, and Aviv, two, and mother-in-law Efrat were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, has quit his job as a real estate developer to devote all his time to trying to get his family home.

At least 68 of those kidnapped are women. One of them is Yaffa Adar, who was 85 years old when she was filmed being taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz in what appeared to be a golf cart. At least eight of the hostages are over 80 years old.

Nine people from the same family were kidnapped in Kibbutz Nir Oz. At least 71 of the kibbutz’s nearly 400 residents were kidnapped, the highest number for a single community.

Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, her husband David, 33, and their twin daughters Emma and Yuly, three, were also abducted on October 7.

Also on the list are Ariel, David’s brother, Arbel Yahod, Ariel’s partner, and his brother Dolev; as well as Danielle, Sharon’s sister; and Amelia, Danielle’s five-year-old daughter.

Danielle, 44, appeared in a video released by Hamas on October 30, along with two other women, Yelena Trupanov and Rimon Kirsht.

In addition to Israel, the hostages include citizens of 26 countries, according to figures from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Many have dual nationality.

Twenty-six Thais were kidnapped, along with 21 Argentinians, 18 Germans, 10 Americans, seven French and seven Russians, according to figures provided by their governments. (JO)