Tehran, IRNA – The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has handed over a list of 33 Israeli prisoners scheduled to be released as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, including 25 who are still alive.
A Hamas official told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Monday that Israel has received the list.
Tel Aviv has long sought information about the fate of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian resistance fighters launched a surprise attack against the regime. About 1,200 Israeli settlers and military personnel were killed during the operation and 250 others were taken across the border into Gaza.
The initial phase of the ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19, will last six weeks, during which Hamas will hand over several Israeli prisoners in exchange for a considerably larger number of Palestinian prisoners every Saturday.
Meanwhile, families of the Israeli prisoners warned against any attempt by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to disrupt the ceasefire agreement. In a new statement on Monday, they said that some Israeli ministers and media figures were trying to scuttle the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Their statement followed comments from far-right former Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who called the agreement with Hamas illegal and warned it would be disastrous for Israel.
On Monday, Ben Gvir, who resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet last week over the ceasefire deal, said the return of thousands of Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza was a victory for Hamas and a failure for Israel.
“This is not what total victory looks like; this is what total surrender looks like,” he said, urging Israel to resume the war in Gaza.
Hamas described the return of Palestinians as a significant triumph for the Palestinian people and a failure of those pushing the “displacement plans” for Gaza.
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