Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who are to be freed starting Sunday

The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who are to be freed starting Sunday as part of the first exchange for Israeli captives under a Gaza ceasefire deal.

"The release of prisoners is... subject to government approval of the (ceasefire) plan and will not take place before Sunday 16:00 (1400 GMT)," AFP quoted the ministry as saying in a statement on Friday.

Earlier, the Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza, bringing a halt to 15 months of conflict that have devastated the coastal strip.

The accord remains contingent on the full cabinet's approval. The ongoing conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas has devastated much of densely populated Gaza, resulting in over 46,000 deaths and displacing the majority of the enclave's 2.3 million pre-war residents, according to local authorities.

If successful, a ceasefire could also help de-escalate tensions in the broader Middle East, where the Gaza conflict has drawn in Iran and its allies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and armed groups in Iraq, as well as the occupied West Bank.

The list includes 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors.

According to the ministry, the youngest inmate on the list is 16.

The list includes only seven prisoners who were arrested before the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Among those on the list is also Khalida Jarar, a leftist Palestinian lawmaker whom Israel arrested and imprisoned on several occasions.

Jarar is a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group designated a "terrorist organisation" by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Detained in late December in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, the 60-year-old has been held since then without charge.

In September 2021, she was released after serving a two-year sentence in an Israeli prison for participating in PFLP activities.

Two sources close to Hamas told AFP that the first group of hostages to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers.

However, since the Palestinian Islamist movement considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians abducted during the attack that triggered the war.

The first three names on a list obtained by AFP of the 33 hostages set to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on the day of the Hamas attack.

Justice ministry spokeswoman Noga Katz said the final number of prisoners to be released in the first swap would depend on the number of live hostages released by Hamas.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called on political allies to vote against the Gaza deal, stating it would see the release of several Palestinian militants "serving life sentences" for killing Israelis.

In Gaza on Friday, Israeli airstrikes continued, with medics and rescue teams reporting at least 104 Palestinian fatalities, including 58 women and children, since the deal was announced on Wednesday.