The four, who have been held hostage for over 400 days and are to be released on Saturday, are all military personnel and young women who had not yet turned 20 years old when they were taken by the terrorist-stamped Hamas.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy are all 20 years old today, Liri Albag 19.
The latter was shown in a video recording that Hamas publicly released earlier in January.
No Response
The Israeli government confirms that they have received the names, but has not given an official response to the short list.
The reason, according to Israeli media, is that none of them are civilians, and that Hamas is thereby breaking the agreement on the ceasefire in Gaza – which states that all civilian women should be released before women in the military.
This primarily concerns 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, who was kidnapped from the kibbutz Nir Oz along with her partner. According to The Times of Israel, the government informed Hamas on Wednesday that they expected her to be released over the weekend.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is, according to Jerusalem Post, holding a meeting on how to proceed. The newspaper writes: "Israel has already prepared plans on how to put pressure on Hamas if they 'play' with the list".
33 to be Released
Hamas was also expected to release information on the remaining 26 hostages to be released over the next five weeks on Friday. The list has not yet been made public.
In total, 33 people from the hostage group are to be released, and on Sunday, the first three returned to Israel.
About 250 people were taken hostage in the October attack on Israel. Over 90 of them are believed to be in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that a third of them are dead.
Phase One:
Will last for six weeks, during which Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages.
Israel will release over 730 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, as well as over 1,100 who have been detained by the military in Gaza within the framework of the war.
Israel will make some initial military withdrawals from key areas in Gaza.
Much more aid and supplies will be allowed into the population.
Negotiations on the forms of the next phase will begin.
Phase Two:
Hamas will release all remaining hostages who are alive.
Israel will release more imprisoned Palestinians.
The Israeli military will begin a complete withdrawal.
Phase Three:
Hamas will hand over the remains of the dead hostages.
A three-to-five-year reconstruction of Gaza will begin under international supervision.
Border crossings to the area will be opened.
