GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Palestinian resistance announced on Friday that it will release three Israeli captives tomorrow, Saturday, as part of the sixth batch of the exchange deal within the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with the Israeli occupation. Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stated that the resistance decided to release three Israeli captives tomorrow.
In a brief statement, Abu Obeida said that the captives to be released are Sasha Alexander Trobenov, Sagi Dekel Han, and Yair Horn. For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, announced that it will release the Russian-Israeli Alexander Turbenov as part of the sixth batch of the exchange deal.
Meanwhile, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “the list of prisoners received from Hamas is acceptable to us.” Later, the statement was amended to reflect the receipt of the names.
The Hebrew site Walla reported that the Israeli authorities began informing the families of the prisoners scheduled for release after receiving the list from Hamas. Israeli media also confirmed that military censorship allowed the publication of the names of the prisoners set to be released tomorrow from the Gaza Strip.
There has been a state of anticipation and waiting in the Gaza Strip and Israel in preparation for the implementation of the sixth batch of the prisoners’ exchange deal, following the crisis triggered by the occupation’s prevention of executing some provisions of the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Axios reported that senior Israeli officials indicated that the crisis concerning the exchange of prisoners and the implementation of the agreement’s clauses seems to have been postponed until next week. Hamas confirmed yesterday, Thursday, its continuation of the ceasefire implementation, as agreed upon, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified timetable, while Israeli sources expressed optimism regarding the continuation of the deal and the release of prisoners on Saturday.
Sources confirmed the success of communications to proceed with implementing the clauses of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and that mediators confirmed the parties’ commitment to executing all clauses of the agreement, including the humanitarian protocol.
The sources indicated that today will see the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery into the Gaza Strip for the first time since the ceasefire agreement began. Israeli sources revealed that the equipment will enter Gaza from an Israeli crossing after being approved, amid optimism for the continuation of the deal.
Images showed trucks loaded with mobile homes and cranes lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting to enter the Gaza Strip. According to the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on January 19 and extends for 42 days, the sixth operation for the exchange of prisoners is supposed to take place next Saturday, but Hamas announced its postponement, accusing Israel of “delaying” the implementation of the agreement, particularly the obstruction of humanitarian aid entry into the devastated enclave.
