A new hostage release is scheduled for this Saturday, February 8, in the Gaza Strip. Friday, Hamas was slow to reveal their number and their identity, leaving doubt as to the realization of this fifth exchange. But three names have been announced.
The fifth exchange between Israeli hostages in Hamas and Palestinian prisoners from Israel is scheduled for Saturday, February 8. Three new Israeli hostages must be given by Hamas to Israel. They are gold Levy, a 34 -year -old information programmer kidnapped at the Nova festival, Eli Sharabi, a 52 -year -old Kibbutz Beeri resident whose wife and girls were killed on October 7, and Ohad Ben Friend, a 56-year-old Israeli-German accountant who also lived in Kibbutz Beeri at the time of the attack by Hamas a year and a half ago.
In parallel, the NGO The Palestinian prisoners’ club announced in a statement that 183 new Palestinian prisoners should also be released on Saturday. According to his sources, it would be 18 sentenced to life prison, 54 prisoners sentenced to heavy sorrows and 111 people arrested in the Gaza Strip after the attack on October 7 and the start of the response of the Hebrew state in the Palestinian enclave.
A suspense and doubt
Friday afternoon, a few hours before the expected liberation of new Israeli hostages, doubts had occurred. While the Islamist group used to press release the number and names of the hostages to be returned to Israel, no information was provided before the end of the day. Even the practical details of the exchange as the place and time of the delivery of individuals had not been specified. It was finally necessary to wait for the surroundings of 5.45 p.m. French time for Hamas to publish the names of three hostages.
Of the 33 Israelis Liberable during the first phase of the truce which started on January 19, 18 were released in exchange for 600 Palestinian prisoners. So there remains a little less than half, but the Israeli government spokesman announced, on January 27, that eight of the 33 hostages died. “Families have been informed of the situation of their relatives” before the remains return, he said. The Israeli army had anticipated the death of certain hostages, still promising to bring bodies back to families, but it had made a less important estimate of the number of deaths.
Resumption of negotiations, but new complications
Truce negotiations resumed on Monday February 3 to organize the second phase of the ceasefire which aims at the release of the last hostages and the final end of the war. The said negotiations are indirect between Israel and Hamas and go through Washington and Qatar. But a few days after the resumption of negotiations, Donald Trump’s statements were able to put a brake on the exchanges. The American president said, alongside the Israeli Prime Minister, wanting to take control of Gaza to rebuild the enclave and make it a “new Côte d’Azur”. Words that have been strongly criticized by Palestinian forces and their supporters. For his part, Israel said it was preparing a plan for a “voluntary” departure from the Gazaouis.
Latest updates
19:35 – Towards the release of 183 Palestinian prisoners this Saturday?
In any case, this is the number mentioned this Friday evening by the NGO in charge of this file. In its press release, the Palestinian prisoner club said that 183 Palestinian prisoners should be released on Saturday in exchange for the three Israeli hostages, the identity of which is finally known. In detail, she talks about 18 Palestinian prisoners who had been sentenced to life prison in Israel, as well as 54 sentenced to heavy penalties and 111 people arrested in the Gaza Strip after the attack on October 7, 2023.
18:46 – Here is the name of the three Israeli hostages that will be released on Saturday
They are called or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami. These three men are all fathers of family. However, Levy, 34, had been kidnapped when he attended the Nova music festival. His wife, who was with him, had been killed. Their children were not with them. For his part, Eli Sharabi, 52, was one of the inhabitants of the Kibbutz Beeri. The rest of his family, his wife and daughters, was killed during the October 7 attack. Finally, the Israeli-German ohad ben Ami, 56, was also a resident of the Kibbutz of Beeri at the time of the attack on October 7. He has three daughters.
18:22 – The names of the three Israeli hostages released tomorrow finally announced!
“The Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades decided to release [les otages] Tomorrow, Saturday, “said TELEGRAM at the end of the day their spokesperson, Abou Obeida on Friday. If the identity of three hostages has been revealed, the names can only be made public after confirmation of the Families D forum ‘Israeli hostages.
5:32 pm – An absence of information that worries
“We have no information” on the list of liberable hostages, a spokesman for the forum of hostage families at AFP said. A lack of information that worries, especially after the recent controversial statements by Donald Trump. The American president has placed himself at the center of negotiations and these declarations may have had a negative impact on the will of Hamas to respect the causes of the truce agreement.
Donald Trump said that the Gaza Strip “could loss given to the United States by Israel at the end of the fighting”, in order to make it “Côte d’Azure du Middle East”. He also expressed the idea that the Palestinians could be moved to neighboring countries. Declarations that he does not withdraw, including after provoking indignation internationally. Emmanuel Macron, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi warned that “any forced displacement of the Palestinian population in Gaza as in the West Bank would be unacceptable”.
17:18 – No information on the hostages that must be released tomorrow
During the latest hostage releases, the names as well as the schedule and the place of discount were public. While hostages must be released tomorrow, with the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange, no information has been made public.
Enough to worry the families of the hostages, which are still waiting for the list of names of the hostages which must be released tomorrow, in accordance with the agreement between Israel and Hamas. This must be published in the afternoon, but time passes and still nothing. Three prisoners must be released, and the Israeli government asks that it is Shiri Bibas and his two children, a week after the liberation of the father.
What this truce agreement contains
The truce between Israel and Hamas, the second since the attack on October 7, 2023, began on Sunday January 19, 2025 at 11:15 am (10:15 am French time), three hours late, Hamas recognizing a setback “for technical reasons on the ground “. Since then, 18 hostages have been released: nine women and nine men, including five Thaîlandias and a Franco-Israeli. The Ofer Kalderon hostage was returned on Saturday, February 1, but the second French hostage, Ohad Yahalomi, is still retained. Theoretically, children and women were to be the first people released by Hamas, but the Israeli Shiri Bibas and her two children are still among the hostages while her husband has been released.
Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of an agreement which would have three according to the Qatari Prime Minister who participated in the negotiations. This phase consists in the exchange of part of the hostages and prisoners at more or less regular intervals for six weeks. In total, this concerns 33 Israeli hostages and 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. The first part of the truce also provides for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from certain corridors and spaces to allow the return of Gazaouis civilians. “A delivery of humanitarian aid everywhere in the Gaza Strip allowing the entry of basic necessities, especially for displaced people who have lost their accommodation following the war, as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers And others “are also on the program for this first phase.
The phases two and three remain unclear at this stage. They “will be finalized when implementing the first phase,” said the Prime Minister. The truce is therefore an opportunity to continue the negotiations between the two parties to the conflict, in particular those on new exchanges of hostages and prisoners. Hamas and Israel would have finally agreed on the release of 296 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life during the next phase, of which 236 must be deported, either to Qatar or in Turkey.
Washington, the main ally of Israel, like the other members of the G7, thus encouraged the belligerents to go further and negotiate a lasting peace in a published statement on January: “We are urging all parties to negotiate in constructively The subsequent phases of the agreement, to guarantee its full implementation and the final end of hostilities “. But nothing guarantees the success of the next negotiations, any more than a final cease-fire. The Israeli government has accepted this agreement to release the hostages, but said its desire to regain the fight until the extermination of Hamas.