From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 17, 2025
Updated schedule for release of 1st phase hostages, as set out in yet-to-be published annex to deal
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The following is the schedule for the release of hostages during the remainder of the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, as set out in an annex to the deal whose content was revealed this evening and has not been officially published.
On Thursday, February 20, Israel is slated to receive the bodies of four hostages, as stipulated in the yet-to-be-published annex. Israel expects to receive the names of those four hostages Thursday morning.
On Saturday, February 22, Hamas will release three living hostages.
On Thursday, February 27, Hamas will release four more bodies of hostages.
Between February 22 and March 2, Hamas is slated to release phase one’s final three living hostages, including Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, who have been held in Gaza for over a decade.
In exchange for the eight bodies, Israel will release all women and children who were arrested in Gaza since October 7. Hebrew media reports that these detainees were not involved in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught or in fighting against Israel since, so it is not immediately clear why they were arrested.
