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Hamas expected to hand over list with names of freed hostages within hours — TV

According to its sources, Hamas has notified the mediators that it will hand over the list as soon as all hostages it plans to release are taken to safe places

CAIRO, January 19. /TASS/. Hamas plans to hand over to Israel a list of hostages to be released during the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal within hours, the Al Arabiya television channel said.

According to its sources, Hamas has notified the mediators that it will hand over the list as soon as all hostages it plans to release are taken to safe places.

The first stage of the deal is expected to come into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that Israel has not yet received a list with the names of hostages who are to be released by Hamas. He warned that this may hold up the ceasefire agreement.

According to the Ynet news portal, the list with the names of the first three hostages to be freed was to be handed over to Israel via Qatar by 4:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. GMT) but this has not been done until now.

Meanwhile, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari said late on Saturday that the mediators had not registered any violations of the deal by either of the parties.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said late on January 15 that thanks to the mediatory efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held in the enclave.

The agreement will come into force early on Sunday, January 19. During the 42-day first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages, including civilian and military women, as well as children, the elderly and the wounded in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and detention centers.