Hamas has named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release in the fifth swap of the ceasefire deal in exchange for Palestinian hostages held in Israel.
An Israeli official confirmed the names received from Hamas were Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34.
The three men are due to be freed from Gaza on Saturday.
The announcement marks a continued progression of the ceasefire agreement, even as Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu discuss plans to forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.
The first of the recently named hostages, Mr Sharabi, was taken captive by the militants from Kibbutz Be’eri, a communal farm that was among the hardest hit in the Hamas attack.
His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room.
And his brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity.
Mr Ben Ami, a father of three, was taken with his wife Raz from Kibbutz Be’eri, where he worked as the kibbutz accountant.
However, Mrs Ben Ami was later released during the brief ceasefire period in November.
Mr Levy, a computer programmer, was pulled by the militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the October 7 attack.
He had fled the scene with his wife, Einav Levy, who was later killed. Their son Almog, a toddler, is currently under the care of his grandparents.
The British family of named hostage Mr Sharabi has welcomed the news of his imminent release.
In a statement, lawyers for the family, Adam Rose and Adam Wagner, stressed that release arrangements must prioritise the safety of the hostages.
‘We and our clients, the Sharabi and Brisley families, are pleased and relieved that Eli Sharabi is reportedly on the list for release by Hamas, due to take place tomorrow,’ the statement read.
‘There cannot be a repeat of the scenes a week ago when hostages were put at danger of injury and death by a mob of thousands of people.
‘We call on the UK Government, which has taken formal responsibility for Eli due to his close British connections, to call for this and use any diplomatic means to achieve it.
‘Hostage taking is a war crime and every nation should be calling for the hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally so that their almost-500-day ordeal, and that of their families, is brought to an end.’
Eighteen hostages have been freed since the ceasefire began on January 19. Israel has released 383 prisoners in return.
Earlier today, Israel was accused of breaching the ceasefire agreement and Hamas postponed the announcement of the names of hostages until the deadline had passed.
Israel delayed the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other vital humanitarian supplies and held back almost all of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide shelter in the region shaken by violence and a devastating winter.
A statement by Hamas read: ‘This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities’.
This comes as American President Donald Trump said the US would take over and ‘own’ the Palestinian city.
He announced plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians from their homes and move them to Arab countries such as Egypt or Jordan, plana which have been rejected by Palestinian leaders and Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia.
President Donald Trump said his suggestions that Gaza’s residents could be resettled and the area redeveloped for tourism has ‘been very well received’ around the globe.
The idea has actually been roundly criticised but Mr Trump insisted on Friday that it was a simple ‘real estate transaction’ and that the US is in ‘no rush to do anything’.
He suggested resettlement of Gaza’s residents could be permanent – something that even top members of his own administration have refuted.
But Mr Trump said that ‘we don’t want to see everybody move back and then move out in 10 years’ because of continued unrest.
Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed around 1,200 people when it attacked Israel’s Nova music festival in October, 2023.
Israel’s subsequent retaliatory war on Palestine has officially killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 100,000 others, though the undocumented number is estimated to be much higher.
As of October, 2023, there were 5,200 Palestinians behind Israeli bars, including 33 women and 170 children.