After a four-hour delay to the hostage swap on Saturday, there is concern about Sunday’s negotiations.
A third list of captives to be released from Gaza have been handed to the Israeli government, Agence France-Presse, as Hamas revealed that four of its leaders have been killed.
The hostage list for day three of the temporary truce is currently being checked by security officials, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said, and families of the hostages are being informed.
A nine year-old girl who was feared dead by her family after the Hamas attacks on 7 October was among 17 hostages released last night. Footage this morning showed the moment she was reunited with her father.
After a four-hour delay to yesterday’s hostage and prisoner swaps, there is some concern that proceedings for today may be difficult.
A senior Red Cross official told Sky News this morning that while he is “hopeful” the swap will go ahead, he is “not confident”.
It comes as the armed wing of Hamas said four of its leaders had been killed, including the commander of the north Gaza brigade, Ahmad Al Ghandour.
It is not clear when they died, and Israel has not commented. Hamas said they had been martyred.
Hamas reveal Gaza commander has been killed by Israel
Hamas announced the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, without providing further details. He was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of Hamas’ top military council, and is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting.
Al-Ghandour, believed to have been around 56 years old, had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life, and helped plan a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.
Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas’ rocket-firing unit.
The Israeli military had mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding and accusing the group of concealing their deaths.
The Israeli military claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence, including several mid-ranking commanders it has identified by name.
