Hamas names four females soldiers to be released today – Saturday, January 25
Israel on Friday – yesterday, January 24 – said the UN’s Palestinian aid agency UNRWA has until the end of January to leave Jerusalem.
UNRWA must “cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote in a Friday letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres seen by dpa.
Danon’s declaration came just as Hamas provided Israel with the names of the four hostages scheduled to be released on Saturday – today, January 25 – in return for dozens of Palestinian prisoners, in the second exchange since the ceasefire in the Gaza war began.
Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag, and Naama Levy are to be freed, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed on Friday.
Israel accuses UNRWA, which has supported Palestinians since 1949, of employing staff who participate in terrorist activity.
Last year, the Israeli parliament passed a law banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from cooperating with the organisation.
Danon then notified Guterres “of the termination of cooperation” between Israel and the UN aid organisation.
Observers fear that the law will make providing for the Palestinian civilian population more difficult, while Israel wishes to provide humanitarian aid through other organisations.
“Preventing @UNRWA to operate might sabotage the #Gaza #ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering,” UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini said on Friday in a post on X.
“The work of UNRWA must continue in Gaza + across the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The UN established UNRWA in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the 1948 and 1967 wars, and their descendants – some 5.9 million people – the aid organisation said.
UNRWA has more than 30,000 employees, most of them Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip alone, the agency employs around 13,000 people, most of whom are refugees themselves.
The aid organisation provides Palestinian refugees with basic services such as education and health care and has also provided shelter for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons
It has also provided humanitarian aid since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Hamas names 4 female Israeli soldiers to be released on Saturday – today, January 25
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the four women – Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag, and Naama Levy are all soldiers who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
“An entire nation has fought for them and anxiously awaits their longed-for return to their families’ embrace,” the forum said in a statement.
Going by the ceasefire agreement, Hamas must inform Israel 24 hours in advance of the names of the hostages who are to be released.
Israel said Hamas had not adhered to the ceasefire agreement because a civilian woman held in captivity should be next in line for release, ahead of the female soldiers, Israeli media reported.
The reports said the civilian woman is being held by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and has not yet been handed over to Hamas.
Nonetheless, Netanyahu has decided not to let this violation get in the way of the exchange, the Times of Israel reported.
Last weekend, Hamas was late to provide the list of the first three hostages to be released, delaying the start of the ceasefire by a few hours.
In exchange for the three Israeli citizens, Israel released 90 Palestinians from prison.
A three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered in mid-January after months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties.
The first stage of the ceasefire agreement foresees the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, while the Israeli military is to withdraw from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. (dpa/NAN)
