Israel in contact with prisoners’ families after receiving list of names

Jerusalem (AA/AFP)

The Israeli prime minister’s office said Thursday the authorities were in contact with the families of the prisoners after receiving “a first list of names”.

It did not immediately specify who was on the list, which was announced shortly after Qatar and Hamas said a cease-fire would go into effect at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Friday.

“The relevant officials are checking the details of the list and are currently in contact with all families,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

“The first group of civilian prisoners will be swapped at around 4 p.m. on Friday,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha.

He said 50 prisoners will be released in four days.

​​​​​​​“The first group of prisoners will include 13 women and children,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause was achieved between Israel and Hamas.

Israel estimates that at least 239 Israelis are being held by Hamas following the cross-border attack by the Palestinian group on Oct. 7.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas attack and has killed more than 14,500 Palestinians, including over 6,000 children and 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s attacks on the besieged enclave.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.