These are the 33 hostages set to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire
Families of the captives have been notified, though it is not yet known who among the 33 is alive and who is not
The government’s hostages and missing persons coordination unit on Friday notified the families of the 33 Israeli hostages expected to be set free in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Those on the list, to be returned over a period of 42 days, are so-called “humanitarian” cases: women, children, elderly individuals and the infirm.
Notably, Israel has not been told how many of the 33 are alive, though it expects the majority are. Israel will receive a full status report on all those on the list seven days into the ceasefire. Some unconfirmed media reports have said Israel has insisted on first receiving the living among the 33, with bodies returned at the end.
The order of release is not yet known. The identities of those set to return are expected to be provided 24 hours before each release.
The schedule for the release will see three hostages returned on the first day of the ceasefire and four more returned on the seventh day. Subsequently, three hostages will be returned every week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the final, sixth week of phase one.
The list is nearly identical to one published by a Saudi news outlet earlier this month, after Hamas apparently leaked a document with the names as negotiators moved closer to sealing the agreement.
The list includes 12 women and children:
Romi Gonen, 23
Emily Damari, 27
Arbel Yehoud, 29
Doron Steinbrecher, 31
Ariel Bibas, 5
Kfir Bibas, 2
Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33
Liri Albag, 19
Karina Ariev, 20
Agam Berger, 21
Danielle Gilboa, 20
Naama Levy, 20
It also includes 10 older men:
Ohad Ben-Ami, 58
Gadi Moshe Mozes, 80
Keith Siegel, 65
Ofer Calderon, 54
Eli Sharabi, 52
Itzik Elgarat, 70
Shlomo Mansour, 86
Ohad Yahalomi, 50
Oded Lifshitz, 84
Tsahi Idan, 50
And another 11 men under 50:
Hisham al-Sayed, 36
Yarden Bibas, 35
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36
Yair Horn, 46
Omer Wenkert, 23
Sasha Trufanov, 28
Eliya Cohen, 27
Or Levy, 34
Avera Mengistu, 38
Tal Shoham, 39
Omer Shem-Tov, 22
The one person who was on the Saudi outlet’s list and who is not on the release list is Youssef Hamis Ziyadne, 54, who was confirmed last week to have been killed in captivity, and whose body was recovered by the IDF.
When it was published in the media earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office downplayed the list, saying it was one Israel had provided to mediating countries in July.
Beyond the 33 on the list, 65 more people are held by Hamas, many of them no longer alive. These are to be returned as part of a second phase of a deal, if it comes to pass, that would also see a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
