US has ‘working list’ of hostages they believe are likely to be released by Hamas Thursday, source familiar says

US officials have a working list of 10 hostages that they believe are likely to be released from Gaza on day one, a source familiar told CNN. It was not clear whether any of the three American hostages —including three-year-old Abigail Edan — would be released on the first day.

The deal is structured in such a way that each day, a group of hostages to be released would be handed off to the Red Cross; the Red Cross would then take the group to a designated border point, which will largely depend on the location of those hostages, the source familiar said. Many of the first 50 hostages are expected to come out through Egypt, they said.

A source familiar with how hostages are expected to leave Gaza told CNN that the first swap is expected to take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. Israeli time (3 a.m. ET). 50 Israel hostages — including some with dual nationalities — are expected to be released over the four-day pause. 10 is the minimum number of hostages to be released each day, but that could be higher.

Every evening before the next day’s release Israel and Hamas will give the Red Cross the list of hostage and prisoner names being released.

Hostages will be brought by the Red Cross to Rafah where they will be met by specially trained Israeli soldiers. They will verify that the hostages released were the people expected and on the list. The families of the hostages will not be notified until the identities of those released have been confirmed.

Hostages will then be taken by helicopter to several designated hospitals in Israel where there will be special areas and rooms for them, closed to the public. There, their families will finally be able to see them after over six weeks in captivity.

The first two days of the hostage release will be treated as a “testing period,” the source said, to make sure the process is working. By day three, there…