Ezzat: Announcing the names of 3 detainees to be released today, and anticipation of the operation of the Rafah crossing

As the ceasefire agreement in Gaza enters its thirteenth day, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced the names of three Israeli detainees who will be released tomorrow, Saturday, in the fourth batch within the first phase of the ceasefire that began on January 19. They are Ofer Calderon, Keith Shmonsel Segal and Yarden Bibas.

In turn, the Prisoners' Media Office said that 90 Palestinian prisoners will be released tomorrow, Saturday, including nine prisoners serving life sentences and 81 prisoners with long sentences, as part of the fourth batch of the deal.

Meanwhile, Palestinians held funeral prayers in absentia on Friday for the souls of the leaders of the Qassam Brigades, headed by its commander-in-chief, Mohammed Deif, who were assassinated by Israel during the genocidal war it committed in the Gaza Strip over the course of more than 15 months. The funeral prayers were held in different parts of the Gaza Strip, while a mosque in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Strip, witnessed the funeral of 15 members of the Qassam Brigades whose bodies were recently recovered from under the rubble.

The day before yesterday, Thursday, the spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced the martyrdom of the Chief of Staff of the Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, and a number of leaders, including Marwan Issa, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Qassam Brigades, Ghazi Abu Tama’a, Commander of the Weapons and Combat Services Section, Raed Thabet, Commander of the Human Resources Section, and Rafe’ Salama, Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Friday that the first group of patients and wounded will leave to travel through the Rafah land crossing starting tomorrow, Saturday. Earlier on Friday, an Egyptian source at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt reported that logistical arrangements had been completed on the Palestinian side to start operating the crossing in the coming hours.

The source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Friday morning that some of the facilities needed to operate the crossing had been built to replace the facilities destroyed by the Israeli occupation army. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority had said on Friday morning that the Rafah crossing would open today, Friday, not Sunday, as stipulated in the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. However, the Israel Hayom newspaper quoted a political source as saying that the crossing was scheduled to “open after the release of the women held in Gaza, and since this has already happened, the crossing will be opened.”

Meanwhile, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed correspondent reported the start of the Egyptian popular demonstration at the Rafah crossing gate, rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. US President Donald Trump, during a chat with journalists at the White House yesterday, Thursday, reaffirmed that Egypt and Jordan will accept displaced persons from the Gaza Strip, and he repeated more than once that they will do so.

In turn, the US President's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said in an interview with the Israeli Walla website yesterday, Thursday, that rebuilding the Gaza Strip, which was subjected to Israeli attacks for 471 days, could take 15 years. Witkoff has been on an open-ended visit to Israel since Wednesday, during which he met with Netanyahu and visited central Gaza. On Thursday, he also met with the extremist Finance Minister Smotrich. During a meeting with journalists, the envoy expressed his hope that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza would hold until the end.

New Arab