INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Palestinian militant movement Hamas is expected to release four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for a group of
Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza.The four soldiers - Karina Ariev, Daniela
Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag - were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza and abducted by Hamas fighters who overran
their base during the attack on Israel on Oct
7, 2023.The Hamas prisoners media office said it expected 200 prisoners to be freed on Saturday as part of the exchange, including 120
Sunday and Hamas handed over three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.Hamas identified on Friday the four hostages
to be released in the second swap
But Israel has not commented officially and may not do so until it actually receives them.The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months
of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, has halted the fighting for the first time since a truce
that lasted just a week in November 2023.In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, including
children, women, older men and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while Israeli
troops pull back from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the
remaining hostages, including men of military age, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15
months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the Oct
7 Hamas attack, when militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies
Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there.After the release on Sunday of
hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel
