People look at the posters of those abducted and taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Barak Ravid
The release of the first group of hostages as part of a
deal between Israel and Hamas won't happen before Friday, Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said on Wednesday.
Driving the news: Israeli officials said earlier Wednesday that the deal would begin to be implemented on Thursday, but Hanegbi said later that the "negotiations on the release of the hostages continue all the time" and the "beginning of their release will take place according to the original agreement and not before Friday."
- An Israeli official said the implementation of the agreement has been delayed because of several technical issues. The official added that Israel has not received the list of names of hostages that are going to be released.
- A source with direct knowledge of the negotiations said the reason for the delay is that the operational plan for the release of hostages hasn't' been finalized yet.
- Mossad director David Barnea arrived in Doha earlier Wednesday to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and other officials to discuss the final details of the deal, which came after weeks of Qatar-mediated negotiations that also involved the Biden administration.
- President Biden wrote on social media Wednesday afternoon that "it's important that all aspects are fully implemented."
The big picture: The deal, once implemented, will see the militant group free at least 50 Israeli women and children in exchange for a four-day pause in the
fighting in Gaza and the release of 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
- The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal that sought to block the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the hostage deal. The decision paved the way for the agreement to be implemented.
- The judge wrote the hostage deal is a decision of national security and foreign policy nature and the court doesn't have a basis for intervention.
Details: The initial 50 hostages are expected to be released in four groups over the four-day pause in what has been described as the first phase of the deal, according to Israeli officials who briefed reporters.
- Israel is expected to receive the list of the first group of hostages that Hamas will release, Israeli officials said. Additional lists will be provided each day. Israeli officials will also prepare a list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released each day.
- The lists will be given to the International Committee of the Red Cross and every morning, the process of transferring the hostages to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will begin.
- Once the Red Cross brings the hostages to the border and they are identified by Israeli officials, the first group of Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons. The hostages will be then transferred to hospitals in Israel.
Israeli officials said they would update the families of the hostages once they've been identified and released into Israeli custody. The officials said they "don't want to create false hopes and disappointments."
- The Israeli officials also expressed cautious optimism that Hamas will agree to release additional hostages in exchange for Israel extending the pause in fighting.
- "We know Hamas are holding at least 70-80 women and children and that we can get all of them," one of the officials said.
According to Israeli estimates, 40 children under the age of 19 and 13 mothers were abducted and brought to Gaza during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
- The Israeli officials said they believe other factions in Gaza are holding at least some of the children, but they are ready to give Hamas incentives to locate all of them.
- More than 240 people, including several Americans, were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack. Four hostages, including two Americans, have since been released, one has been rescued and two others were found dead.
What to watch: During the pause in fighting, Israel is expected to allow
300 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza each day.
- It's also expected to allow more fuel into the enclave. Health workers and aid groups have said the aid and fuel are desperately needed as the health and humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to significantly deteriorate.
- UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told CNN on Tuesday that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is the worst he has seen during his tenure at the UN.
- "Nobody goes to school in Gaza, nobody knows what their future is. Hospitals have become places of war, not of curing. No, I don't think I've seen anything like this before," Griffiths said.
Humanitarian groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, welcomed the expected pause in fighting but called on the parties to use it to pave the way for a permanent ceasefire.
- "A pause of a few days is not enough time to address the immense needs after six weeks of fighting, bloodshed, and destruction," NRC secretary general Jan Egeland said in a statement on Wednesday.
- The Israeli government on Tuesday said, however, that it "will continue the war in order to bring all the hostages back, finish destroying Hamas and make sure there can be no threat to Israel from Gaza."
Editor's note: This story and headline have been updated with Hanegbi's comments.
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