The Japan Times - Armed militants gather in Gaza ahead of Israeli hostage swap

The planned release comes under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed.

The fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, gathered in rows, many carrying their groups' banners and wearing green headbands, as crowds of Gaza residents gathered to watch, an AFP reporter said.

Israel confirmed Friday that it had received a list of names of hostages who are due to return home, though neither side has specified how many Palestinians were to be released from Israeli detention.

Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should be able to begin returning to the north following Saturday's releases, Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau based in Qatar, told AFP on Friday.

The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza but Israel's UN ambassador on Friday confirmed that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza's main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday.

Palestinian sources told AFP the releases could begin before noon (1000 GMT), though neither Hamas nor Israel has announced timings.

According to the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group, the women due for release are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy -- all aged 20 -- and Liri Albag, 19.

They have been held captive for more than 15 months, since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.

Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump's inauguration. Trump has since claimed credit for securing the deal after months of fruitless negotiations.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said on Telegram Friday that "as part of the prisoners' exchange deal, the Qassam brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed it had received the names through mediators.

- 'Worry and fear' -

According to Israel's prison service, some of the Palestinians released will go to Gaza, with the rest returning to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases, but the last two stages have not yet been finalised.

"The worry and fear that the deal will not be implemented to the end is eating away at all of us," said Vicky Cohen, the mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen.

In Gaza, families displaced by more than a year of war longed to return home, but many will find only rubble where houses once stood.

"Even if we thought about returning, there is no place for us to put our tents because of the destruction," Theqra Qasem, a displaced woman, told AFP.

During the first, 42-day phase that began Sunday, 33 hostages Israel believes are still alive should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Three hostages -- Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher -- returned home on the first day of the truce.

Ninety Palestinians, mostly women and minors, were released in exchange.

The deal's second phase is to see negotiations for a more permanent end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal's multi-phase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.

During their October 7, 2023 attack, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, 91 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, a majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, figures which the UN considers reliable.

- 'Situation remains dire' -

Under the deal, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza's densely populated areas is to allow for the exchanges as well as "the return of the displaced people to their residences", Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani has said.

Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.4 million has been displaced by the war

According to the United Nations, by December 1, nearly 69 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed or damaged, and the UN Development Programme estimated last year that it could take until 2040 to rebuild all destroyed homes.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will be effectively barred from operating as of Thursday.

In a letter addressed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Ambassador Danny Danon confirmed: "UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025."

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned on social media platform X on Friday that preventing the agency from operating "might sabotage the Gaza ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering."

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M.Saito--JT