All hostage families are told who’s slated for release tomorrow, in change of strategy

The Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement on behalf of the government’s point person on hostages and missing people, Gal Hirsch, saying officials have notified all the families whose loved ones are expected to be released from captivity in Gaza tomorrow.

Officials have also told all the other families that their loved ones are not on the list Israel has received.

The PMO urges the public to refrain from “spreading rumors and unofficial information,” and asks media not to publish the list of names until the hostages are back in Israel.

Israel seems to have changed its initial planned strategy, outlined yesterday in a briefing to reporters by a senior diplomatic official, which would have seen Israel avoid notifying families until live proof is received of the hostages’ release.

The previous decision was explained to be due to fear that Hamas’s list of names is inaccurate or that the group is playing cruel tricks, and in order not to spark false hope.

However, top officials have evidently changed their mind, and the information has been conveyed, with many qualifications, to the relatives.