Hamas handed mediators a list of Israeli hostages for release

The Palestinian Hamas movement handed over to mediators a list of Israeli hostages to be released on January 19. This was reported by KAN radio.

According to the media outlet, the hostages are to be released as part of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

A representative of Hamas' military wing, Abu Ubaida, in his Telegram channel gave the names of the hostages who made it to the list. Among them were 24-year-old Romy Gonen, Emily Demari, who is 28, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher.

Meanwhile, as Ynet noted, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned in protest of the deal with the Palestinian movement.

"If this reckless deal is approved and implemented, the Jewish Force party will send a letter to the prime minister asking him to resign." The Jewish Force party will not enter the government and will withdraw from it. If the war with Hamas is renewed <...> with the strength to resolve and realize the war's unachieved goals, we will return to the government," the minister said.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip can only become effective when Israel receives a list of hostages to be released from the Palestinian Hamas movement. The Palestinian movement, for its part, said the delay in providing the list was due to technical reasons.

On January 18, The Times of Israel reported that Hamas will release three Israeli hostages on Sunday as part of the fulfillment of clauses in a cease-fire agreement with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the agreement, the first Israelis to be released should be mostly women, children, the disabled and the elderly.

Theceasefire in the Gaza Strip was to begin on the morning of January 19, as agreed upon by both sides and mediators. The agreement with the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Israeli government approved on January 17 after a six-hour meeting.

Earlier, on January 15, it became known that a ceasefire agreement had been reached in Gaza. The next day, the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparations to implement the agreement.

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.