Hamas releases names of 4 female Israeli soldiers to be freed in second exchange following cease-fire deal
Hamas has revealed the names of the four Israeli hostages who will be freed on Saturday in the second exchange since the cease-fire deal between the Jewish state and terror group went into effect last week. Hamas announced Friday that soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag will be released after spending more than 15 months in captivity in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners — as part of the first phase of the agreement reached with Israeli officials. The exchange is expected to take place on Saturday afternoon.Israel agreed to accept the four hostages despite accusing Hamas of violating the precarious cease-fire deal because one of the two civilian hostages still captive in Gaza was not on the list of names to be released tomorrow.Per the terms of the agreement, Hamas must release all of the female civilian hostages before then freeing female IDF soldiers.This week, Israel has demanded that Hamas free civilian hostage Arbel Yehud, 29 be part of this weekend’s exchange — however Yehud is believed to be in the custody of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and not Hamas, according to reports.The hostage and cease-fire deal requires the terror group to provide the names of hostages at least 24 hours ahead of their release — a condition it failed to meet on Jan.19, the first day of the cease-fire, and delayed the first three female hostages from being freed. The cease-fire deal nearly crumbled after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the terror group of failing to fulfill their end of the pact when they didn’t release the names of the captives slated to be released before the plan was meant to begin.Despite the delay, Romi Gonen, 23, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were the first of 33 women, children and men under 50 to be freed by Hamas during the first phase of the three-stage deal. During this period, where a six-week pause in fighting in the war-torn Palestinian enclave is in effect, the r...