Deir el-Balah, Palestinian Territories — Hamas is set to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 prisoners held by Israel in the
fifth exchange of a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
In Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square,” where hundreds were expected later to watch the handover, a huge screen counted down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack, when the hostages were first seized. Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where gunmen murdered his wife. Ben Ami, who has dual Israeli-German citizenship, turned 56 in captivity.
Hamas previously said his wife Shiri and his two sons Ariel and Kfir — the youngest hostages — were dead, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths. Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, have so far freed 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails. Netanyahu’s office said that after Saturday’s swap, an Israeli delegation will head to Doha for further negotiations on the ceasefire.
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