Hamas hands over list of captives for exchange, including Arbel Yehud

By Al Mayadeen English
29 Jan 2025 20:01

A senior commander in the Palestinian Resistance has given Al Mayadeen details about the list of names handed over by Hamas regarding Thursday's prisoner exchange.

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A woman walks past a photo of Arbel Yehud, and a banner in Hebrew calling for a prisoner-exchange with Hamas, at the entrance of a tent set up in occupied al-Quds, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 (AP)

A Palestinian Resistance commander informed Al Mayadeen that the Hamas Resistance movement submitted the list of names of Israeli captives to be handed over on Thursday.

Speaking to Al Mayadeen, the commander stated that the captives included a female Israeli soldier, Arbel Yehud, and an elderly man.

In exchange, 110 Palestinian prisoners will be liberated, including 30 children held in Israeli prisoners, Hamas' prisoner affairs office confirmed.

"Tomorrow, on Thursday, 32 prisoners sentenced to life in prison, 48 with long term sentences and 30 children will be released as part of the first stage of the exchange deal," the statement read.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also reported on Wednesday that "Israel" had received the list of captives to be released later on Thursday.

It is worth noting that the release of Arbel Yehud was conditioned with the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.

The agreement was brokered after "Israel" accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire agreement by not releasing Yehud during the second round of the prisoner exchange.

As a civilian, Yehud "was supposed to be released" during the second swap under the terms of the truce, claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in a statement.

Netanyahu's office described Hamas' actions as a violation of the ceasefire agreement, vowing that "Israel" "will not allow the passage of Gazans to the northern part of the Gaza Strip until the release of civilian Arbel Yehud... is arranged."

Hamas said it was monitoring, through mediators, the Israeli occupation's prevention of displaced persons from returning from southern to northern Gaza, which constitutes a violation and breach of the ceasefire agreement.

In a statement addressing Israeli violations of the agreement, Hamas pointed out that "Israel" is stalling the implementation of the agreement under the pretext of the Israeli captive Arbel Yehud, despite the fact that "the movement has informed mediators that she is alive and has provided all necessary guarantees for her release."