All four hostages are female Israeli soldiers. They are expected to be released Saturday in accordance with a ceasefire agreement with Israel that's halted fighting in the Gaza war since last weekend.
Lebanese volunteers are anxious to get back to sea turtle conservation on southern beaches that were off-limits to civilians when fighting escalated between Israel and Hezbollah.
There are men, women and children on the list of 33 to be released from Gaza. Two are U.S. citizens. Israel is set to free hundreds of prisoners in exchange for them.
The Israeli government has approved a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, leading to a possible end to 15 months of a devastating war in Gaza that spread to other parts of the Middle East.
The deal was set to be ratified by the Israeli Cabinet on Thursday. But Netanyahu says, without specifying, that Hamas has gone back on several parts of the ceasefire deal at the last minute.
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a multiphase ceasefire that commits them to end the war in Gaza, President Biden and Qatar's prime minister announced separately on Wednesday.
Negotiators in Qatar are close to a ceasefire deal that sees an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees, a six-week pause in fighting and eventual troop withdrawal from Gaza.