From Israeli official: Hamas release of hostages to start at 10 a.m. tomorrow; ultimately up to 80 may be freed in this deal
The release of some 50 Israeli hostages — children, mothers, and other women — held by Hamas will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m., says a senior Israeli official briefing reporters.
Israel still does not have the list of hostages to be freed tomorrow, the official says, but expects to receive those names this evening.
(A US official told reporters yesterday that Hamas did produce a list with identifying information on the 50 women and children it plans to release.)
The Israeli official confirms that hostages are supposed to be released in 12-13 person batches, and that Hamas has committed to release 50 hostages in the next four days.
The Israeli official says that Israel believes that Hamas’s main interest in negotiations was to maximize the duration of the pause in hostilities, and that fuel and humanitarian aid are not Hamas’s central concern.
Hamas wanted a month-long halt in the fighting, but reduced its demand to four days, the official says.
Nonetheless, the official adds, extending the pause beyond four days remains a central goal of Hamas.
Since Hamas would like to extend the pause by a few more days, there is a chance that a total of 80 kidnapped children and women directly held by the terror group will be released under the provisions of the deal, the official says. Israel has said it would extend the pause by an extra day for each additional 10 Israeli hostages freed.
Regarding the daily number of releases, the senior official notes that Hamas is bound by the agreement to release 50 hostages within four days, with no fewer than 10 hostages per truce day. Thus, if Hamas hands over only 10 hostages per day in the first three days, Hamas would have to make up numbers to reach a total of 50 by the fourth day.
According to Israeli estimates, Hamas holds a total of 98 women and children, 40 of whom are children under the age of 19. At first, Hamas had 100 living women and children, but after the murder of Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano that number dropped to 98.
In addition, among the 98 civilian women and children, there are five female soldiers in active service who are not included in the deal.
The source also says that beyond the potential maximum of 80 women and children that might be released in the coming days, Hamas has to “collect” women and children from elsewhere in the Strip to potentially be released in subsequent exchanges. This is why Israel agreed to not gather overhead drone intelligence for six hours every day during the truce, enabling Hamas and its operatives to gather women and children hostages from different locations across the Strip.
