Posted on 01/17/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
The Prime Minister's Office stated this morning (Friday) that under the hostage deal, the first hostages are expected to be released as soon as this coming Sunday, January 19.
"Pending approval by the Security Cabinet and the Government, and the agreement taking effect, the release of the hostages will be implemented according to the planned framework in which the hostages are expected to be released on Sunday," the PMO stated.
The statement was made after Opposition Leader Yair Lapid criticized the religious parties on the grounds that they are preventing the government from convening on Shabbat to approve the agreement - which, according to him, will lead to a delay in the release of the hostages.
The haredi and religious parties stated that they have no objection to convening the government on Shabbat. Shas explained that the problem stems from a legal issue related to the possibility of bereaved families appealing during Shabbat the list of terrorists who will be released, since Shabbat is not considered the time for criminal trials under Halakhic law.
In consultation with the Attorney General, a solution was found that does not require an appeal process.
Lapid wrote this morning that "every day people die and are murdered, but the government postpones its meeting for another day 'because of Shabbat.' If they were truly Jewish, they would know that the origin of the expression 'Saving lives overrules Shabbat' is from the fact that the Mishnah permits dismantling a pile of stones on Shabbat in order to save a person buried under it. Yes, that's exactly it (Tosefta, Shabbat 16, 14). A criminal, heartless government."
The list of 33 hostages expected to be released in the first phase of the hostage deal includes, among others, the children of the Bibas family, along with Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held captive in Gaza for about a decade.
The living hostages will be released before the dead in phases spread over 42 days, with at least three hostages released each week. The first hostages are expected to be released on Sunday at 4 p.m.