Hamas to release three female hostages after ceasefire takes effect

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00:00We know about the three hostages, Emily Damari, a British-Israeli citizen, and Romi Gonen, an Israeli,

00:07were both taken hostage by Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7th, 2023.

00:13They were both participants.

00:15They both were taking part in a music festival that took place here in southern Israel, not far from the border.

00:23The third person taken, Doron Steinbrecher, also a young woman,

00:28she was taken from her bed in a kibbutz also not far from here.

00:32She had not yet woken up that day.

00:34These are three civilians.

00:36It was unknown until just very recently whether the three Israelis released today would be conscripted soldiers or civilians,

00:44and now we have that answer.

00:46And what do we know at this stage then about the Palestinian prisoners

00:49that are going to be released in exchange for the Israeli hostages?

00:55So we know that 30 Palestinian prisoners are going to be released in exchange for each one of these young women.

01:03We don't know the names of the 90 to be released today, but the Israeli authorities have released a general list.

01:11Some of the most prominent of these prisoners include Khalida Jarar.

01:16She's 62 years old.

01:18She's a member of the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, not at all a Hamas member,

01:25and she's been held basically without any formal charges by Israel for much of the last decade.

01:33Then we have the names of four others convicted terrorists,

01:38Zakaria Zubeidi, who is very famous in Israel for having been part of a kind of spectacular escape from Israeli prison in 2021,

01:47and Wissam Abassi, Mohamed Odeh, and Wael Qasim.

01:51All four of these were convicted of crimes in the second intifada,

01:57so about 20 years ago, and they're set to be unconditionally released as of this evening.

02:03Now, just to recap, remind us of the main terms of the ceasefire agreement, or at least the first phase of the deal.

02:13Right, it's important to note it's a three-phase deal.

02:16In this early first phase, which is set to last 42 days or six weeks,

02:22what we will see, what we expect to see, is in fact a ceasefire, a stoppage of military hostilities on all sides.

02:31We also expect to see regularly, but not daily.

02:34So about once a week, Hamas is committed to releasing Israeli hostages.

02:40Most are civilians. Some are conscripted soldiers who are mostly in their late teens.

02:46Israel is expecting to receive their names one day before their release.

02:52That was the hitch earlier today.

02:54And then Israel will release in exchange 30 Palestinian prisoners or detainees for every civilian

03:02and 50 for every military hostage who is released.

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