The IDF expects Hamas to release the six Israeli hostages from two separate locations in the Gaza Strip starting from 9 a.m., a defense official says.
Hamas will first release hostages from southern Gaza’s Rafah and afterward from Nuseirat in the Strip’s center.
The official says there could be delays.
The six hostages — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — will be taken by the Red Cross to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.
From there, the troops will escort them to an army facility near Re’im for an initial checkup and to meet with family members before they are airlifted to Sourasky and Rabin hospitals in central Israel.
Al Jazeera reports that Shoham and Mengistu will be freed in Rafah, while the other four will be released in Nuseirat.
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