US has ‘working list’ of hostages they believe are likely to be released first by Hamas, 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 3-year-old Abigail Edan – would be released on the first day.

The working list consists of 10 individuals who Hamas had proposed releasing earlier in the negotiations. The list consists of information like gender, nationality and age, but the names of the individuals were never offered.

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.

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 is expected to be intense discussions about the potential second phase of the hostage release beyond the initial group of 50.

“The first swap is the most crucial to see that the mechanism is working as was agreed,” the source said.

A source familiar with how hostages are expected to leave Gaza told CNN that the first swap had been expected to take place on Thursday. However, the Israeli National Security Council said later that the pause would be delayed and no hostages are expected to be released before Friday.

“Talks to release our hostages are advancing and are ongoing. The start of the release process will take place according to the original agreement between both sides, and not before Friday,” Israel’s National Security Council said in a statement.

A senior US official said Wednesday evening that more time was…