Hamas has yet to provide names of hostages to be released, but Israel expects ceasefire to proceed

Israelis protest for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem, Sept. 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

(JTA) — Israel reportedly expects a ceasefire in the Gaza war to proceed even though Hamas has yet to name the hostages it will release on Sunday.

On Saturday, the terror group was expected to name the three civilian women it would release. But as Sunday began in Israel, Hamas had yet to provide the list of names, sparking another bout of uncertainty just hours before the truce was set to begin.

But Israeli officials reportedly still expect the ceasefire to move forward. Citing Arabic-language media, Israeli outlets said Hamas was due to publicize the names shortly, prompting a halt in the fighting and the release of the three hostages. Hamas has also reportedly blamed the delay on technical difficulties.

The ceasefire is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, and the hostages would be released Sunday night. It will be the first pause in the 15-month war since a weeklong truce in November 2023, when more than 100 hostages were freed.

“The Security Cabinet and the Government have approved the framework for the return of our hostages,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Saturday night. “This is the objective of the war from which we will not relent until it will be completed. The sacred mission to release hostages has accompanied me throughout my life.”

Sunday’s hostage release is expected to begin a six-week ceasefire. During that time, Hamas is meant to gradually free 33 hostages, some of whom are thought to be dead, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians convicted of security offenses.

That period is meant to be the first stage of a permanent ceasefire. Subsequent phases would see a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the rest of the 98 hostages, living and dead, that Hamas holds. In exchange, Israel is due to release well over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners.

But the latter stages of the ceasefire have yet to be negotiated, and Netanyahu warned that fighting in Gaza could resume if the talks fail. He has faced intense pressure from far-right members of his coalition to tank the deal, whose framwork was first proposed last May.

“Both President Trump and President Biden have given full backing to Israel’s right to return to the fighting, if Israel reaches the conclusion that the second stage negotiations are ineffectual,” he said. “If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force.”

But that assurance appeared to be undercut by Trump himself, who will take office on Monday. In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, he said the ceasefire “better hold.” The incoming president said he told Netanyahu that “this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done.”

On Saturday night, hundreds of protesters opposing the ceasefire blocked the entrance to Jerusalem. In addition, a rally for the hostages’ release in Tel Aviv drew thousands on Saturday.

The Oct. 7, 2023, invasion by Hamas, which began the Gaza war, also sparked a multi-front conflict for Israel that has continued even as the truce is set to begin. On Saturday, Israel intercepted two missiles fired by the Houthis, a Yemeni terror group. But the Houthis also reportedly said they would stop attacking Israel once the ceasefire begins.

Also on Saturday, a Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed an Israeli man in central Tel Aviv, seriously injuring him, in what police said was a terror attack.