Israel to free 183 Palestinians on Saturday in the fourth prisoner exchange under the Gaza ceasefire deal, a Palestinian advocacy group said, more than doubling the previous reported figure.
“The updated number of prisoners to be released tomorrow is 183,” said Palestinian Prisoners’ Club spokesperson Amani Sarahneh on Friday, after previously announcing that 90 Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails.
Israel to free 183 Palestinians
The advocacy group published two separate lists of names due for release on Saturday. The first comprised 72 prisoners arrested before Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
A second list of Palestinian hostages to be freed contained 111 names of Gazans detained after the attack that sparked the war in the Palestine.
Since the truce took effect on 19 January, Hamas has released 15 Israeli prisoners it has held in Gaza.
The three captives to be freed Saturday are Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, who also holds US citizenship, and Ofer Kalderon, who also has French nationality, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group.
Since the ceasefire began, Israel has been forced to free hundreds of Palestinian hostages, many of them women and minors, that have been held before the most recent conflict erupted, without charge or due process.
Over the course of the 42-day truce, Israel is set to release 1,900 Palestinians while Hamas will free 33 of the 94 prisoners in Gaza.
Gaza border crossing reopens
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing to open with Egypt is to reopen Saturday following the prisoner exchange, a Hamas official and a source with knowledge of the discussions told AFP.
“The mediators informed Hamas of Israel’s approval to open Rafah crossing tomorrow, Saturday, after the completion of the fourth batch of prisoner exchange,” the Hamas official said.
The source explained that injured Palestinians would be evacuated from the territory at the crossing, “as per the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement”.
Rafah border crossing to open
The Rafah border crossing with Egypt was one of the main entry points into the Palestinian territory and a vital conduit for aid. Israel and the United States have forced Egypt to keep that crossing closed for aid.
Egypt has also refused to take in any more displaced Palestinians in Gaza, as in the past, for fear they won’t be allowed to return once they leave Gaza.
But the border has been closed since Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side in May last year.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday the 27-member bloc had deployed a monitoring mission at the Rafah crossing “at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis”.
“It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care,” she wrote on X.
