Israel and Hamas prepare for fourth hostage-prisoner swap

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00:00The joy is tempered by fear and uncertainty.

00:04One of the Israeli hostages set to be released on Saturday, Yartan Bebas, was kidnapped on

00:08the same day as his wife Shiri and two young children, Ariel and Kefir, whose status is

00:14unclear.

00:15Hamas said in late 2023 that Shiri and the boys had been killed in an Israeli strike.

00:21Israel called that claim cruel and the army says it has not been able to confirm it.

00:26All the other child hostages were freed during a brief truce in 2023 and under the current

00:32deal, women and children take priority for release.

00:36But the Bebas family say they're holding out hope that Shiri, Ariel and Kefir may still

00:40be alive.

00:42The other two Hamas captives set to be released on Saturday are dual citizens.

00:46Keith Siegel is American-Israeli and Ofar Calderon is French-Israeli.

00:52This round of hostage releases will be the fourth since the ceasefire took effect and

00:56the second this week.

00:57On Thursday, three Israeli and five Thai hostages were let go in exchange for 110 Palestinian

01:03prisoners.

01:04Doctors say the freed captives are still being evaluated but appear to be in a stable condition.

01:10We're taking the time, no pressure.

01:13The idea is to let them regain control over their lives after all they have suffered.

01:17They have suffered a lot but we can, we're very, I mean we can emphasise the high spirit

01:25and how strong and resilient these people are.

01:28They're very, very happy to be here.

01:31After Saturday, there will be 20 Israeli hostages remaining on the list of those to be released

01:35during this phase of the ceasefire but it's believed that only 12 of them are alive.

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