Hamas announces it will release twice as many live hostages as scheduled for release on Saturday.
The Palestinian resistance is prepared to fully comply with the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
247 - The Hamas movement said on Tuesday (18) that it will release all six remaining living hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire this Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The original agreement stipulated the release of three hostages this Saturday and another three the following week, ending the first phase of the ceasefire on March 2nd. The bodies of four hostages are also expected to be released this Thursday.
Israeli authorities have been conducting indirect negotiations with Hamas to secure the release of the hostages with as few obstacles as possible.
In Israel, there were fears that statements by Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his ministers—who oppose the second phase of the ceasefire and encourage a resumption of the genocide in Gaza—could lead Hamas to interrupt the current phase.
Also on Tuesday, an Israeli official stated that Israel is ready to begin allowing mobile structures into Gaza.
According to the original treaty, the Zionist state must allow the entry of 60 mobile structures and 200 tents into the Gaza Strip.
Second stage of the ceasefire
A meeting of Israel's security cabinet ended Monday night without any decisions being made regarding the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
On the same day, an Israeli delegation flew to Cairo to discuss the continued implementation of the first phase of the agreement. The delegation is not expected to discuss the second phase until it receives instructions from the government.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Tuesday that the Israeli government will begin negotiations on the second phase of the agreement later this week.
