Israel and Hamas Prepare for Next Round of Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

Israelis and Palestinians on Friday anxiously awaited the next step in the 42-day Gaza cease-fire and hostages-for-prisoners swap — set to take place over the next day — as the truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to have held through its first week.

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas was expected to send the names of four female hostages that it would release on Saturday. In response, Israel is expected to publish the names of the more than 100 Palestinian prisoners it would free in exchange.

Analysts said the coming weekend would be a crucial test for the agreement.

The truce also stipulated that Israeli forces would have to partly withdraw from a wide zone in central Gaza to allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to begin heading back to their homes in the devastated north.

And Hamas has also committed to supplying Israel on Saturday with information about the condition of the remaining hostages to be released during the six-week truce, said two Israeli officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

Israel has long demanded to know which hostages were still alive after over a year in captivity in Gaza. Hamas has refused to provide the information, with some officials arguing that they could not even confirm their status before a truce allowed its fighters to move and communicate freely.

Among the four women to be released, Hamas was expected to include at least some Israeli female soldiers it abducted in its assault on Oct. 7, 2023, that set off the war. According to the cease-fire deal, the release of soldier hostages would require Israel to free some Palestinians serving long prison sentences for committing deadly attacks, which has caused consternation in Israel.