Hamas released a list of hostages for release on Feb. 1
The Palestinian radical movement Hamas plans to hand over hostages Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas to Israel on Saturday, February 1. Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas), said on January 31.
"As part of the prisoner exchange deal, the Al-Qassam Brigades decided to release the following <Israeli> prisoners tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, 2025: 1) Ofer Calderon, 2) Keith Shmonsel Siegel, 3) Yarden Bibas," Ubaida wrote in his Telegram feed.
As The Times of Israel specifies, Siegel is 65 years old and a U.S. citizen. He was kidnapped along with his wife Aviva, who was released during the truce in November 2023. Calderon is 54, he was taken hostage with his children Erez and Saar, who have already been released.
Bibas is 35, separately his wife Shiri and sons Ariel and Kfir were kidnapped. The children were 4 years and 10 months old, respectively, at the time of their capture by Hamas. The Times of Israel notes that the Palestinian movement has claimed Shiri and the boys died in captivity, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has no intelligence to confirm this. Nevertheless, the Israeli side is gravely concerned about the fate of Bibas' wife and his two children.
The day before, Hamas handed over eight hostages to the Israeli military: first 19-year-old IDF soldier Agam Berger, and later 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, 80-year-old Gadi Moses, and five Thai nationals. All were sent inside Israel for medical examinations.
Prior to that, on January 19, the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. During this phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, 33 Israeli hostages and about 1,900 Palestinians are to be released. On the same day, the movement released three hostages in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, and on January 26, four military girls were handed over to the Red Cross.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
