CAIRO, January 31. /TASS/. The Palestinian movement Hamas will release Israeli citizen Yarden Bibas, US national Keith Siegel and French citizen Ofer Calderon on February 1, Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
"As part of the exchange agreement [with Israel], we decided to release Ofer Calderon, Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas on February 1," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
On Thursday, Palestinian factions operating in the Gaza Strip released eight hostages - three Israelis and five Thai nationals - as part of an additional exchange round. During the release process, two of the Israeli hostages and the Thai hostages had to navigate through large crowds of people, and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) vehicles were not immediately able to leave the town of Khan Yunis due to Gazans blocking their way. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the suspension of the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners until the safe transfer of hostages to the ICRC in the Gaza Strip could be guaranteed in the next stages of the ceasefire deal in the enclave.
Later on Thursday, Israel received assurances from the mediators that the hostages would be able to leave the Palestinian enclave safely. Shortly thereafter, the Palestinian prisoners' affairs office said that negotiations with the mediators resulted in a decision to release Palestinian prisoners after 3 p.m. GMT on January 30.
The agreement to cease fire in Gaza went into effect on January 19. On the same day, the first group of hostages was released, including three Israeli women. In turn, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Early on January 25, four Israeli women, who were doing their compulsory service in the Israeli army, were released from captivity in the Gaza Strip, while Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners. Among them, 114 arrived in the West Bank, 16 returned to Gaza, and the rest 70 were deported to Egypt.