As the sixth wave of Phase One in the hostage deal approaches, Israel stands by Friday morning for the announcement of three names scheduled for Saturday's release. Officials are cautiously optimistic about the possibility of six additional hostages being freed next week, marking a potential acceleration in the release process.
The roster of 17 remaining hostages includes the Bibas family – Shiri Bibas and her children Ariel and Kfir – along with Eliya Cohen, Sagui Dekel Chen, Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Iair Horn, Omer Wenkert, Tsachi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Itzhak Elgarat, Hisham Al-Sayed, Shlomo Mantzur, and Avera Mengisto. This group comprises five individuals over 50 years old and nine who are known to be ill or wounded. Two of the hostages, Avera Mengisto and Hisham Al-Sayed, were captured prior to the current conflict and are expected to be released as this phase concludes.
The recent release of Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy, and Eli Sharabi last Saturday brought the total number of freed hostages in Phase One to 21. However, Hamas has declared that eight of the 17 remaining hostages of Phase One did not survive captivity. The family of the eldest Hamas hostage Shlomo Mantzur recently received confirmation of his death during the Oct. 7 attack.
A glimmer of hope emerged this week with nine signs of life received from young male hostages still held by Hamas, communicated through recently released hostages who shared their detention locations.
Extended security consultations took place Thursday at the IDF's Southern Command headquarters, involving high-ranking political and military officials, as tensions surrounding the deal continue. Hamas issued an official statement reaffirming its commitment to the hostage release agreement and ceasefire within the established timeline.
A political source revealed to Israel Hayom that US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff recently engaged in securing an American citizen's release from Russia, has renewed his focus on the hostage negotiations. Israel Hayom has also learned that Israel's immediate priority is to salvage Phase One of the agreement and secure the release of the nine surviving civilian hostages from the remaining 17 – potentially departing from the previous Saturday-only release schedule.
