CAIRO/GAZA (dpa-AFX) – As part of the agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas, 14 more Israeli hostages are to be released from the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The German Press Agency learned from Egyptian security circles on Saturday that Egypt’s government had received a list of the 14 names from Hamas and the Red Cross. There is also a list with the names of 42 Palestinian prisoners who should be released from Israeli prisons on Saturday in return. Among these are 24 women and 18 minors.
There was initially no official confirmation of the number of hostages planned for release on Saturday. However, the Israeli prison authority previously reported that 42 more Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons in return.
On Friday, after a ceasefire came into effect, 39 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for 13 Israeli hostages. Eleven foreigners were also released, including ten Thai and one Filipino citizens.
There are unlikely to be any US citizens among the hostages to be released on Saturday, the US news channel CNN reported, citing sources. It is assumed that among the total of 50 hostages whose release is initially expected as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas, three are Americans – two women and a child./jot/DP/men