Palestinian militant groups in Gaza said they will release the hosts Iair Horn, Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-chos and Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov on Saturday, according to the terms of the ceasefire with Israel.
The announcement, after days of uncertainty about the maintenance of the ceasefire agreed last month, followed the intense efforts of Egyptian mediators and pick up the agreement supported by the United States.
A note from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reported that Israel accepted the list, but this was corrected later to say that Israel had received the list, which, according to the country, is a “purely factual description” that did not reflect any Israeli approach on the issue.
Hamas stated that Israel should free 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in return.
All three hostages that will be released on Saturday were captured at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities around the Gaza Strip that was invaded by Hamas armed men on October 7, 2023. Iair Horn’s brother, Eitan, was captured on the same occasion and remains in captivity.
Hamas threatened no longer release hostages after accusing Israel of violating ceasefire terms by blocking the entry of help in Gaza, attracting Israel’s counter-retaking counter-reactions.
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Even before Hamas’s threat not to proceed with the liberation of the hostages, the Israelis were outraged by the linked appearance of the three hostages released last week and the public display in front of a crowd in Gaza when they were handed over to Red Cross employees .
Last month, Hamas agreed to deliver 33 Israeli hostages, including elderly women, children and men, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners and Palestinian detainees, during a 42 -day truce when Israeli forces would retreat from some of their positions in Gaza .
The truce seeks to pave the way for a second phase of negotiations to return the remaining hostages and complete the withdrawal of Israeli forces before the definitive end of the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.
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Questions about whether the agreement would be kept increased long after US President Donald Trump asked the Palestinians to be permanently removed from Gaza and that the enclave be delivered to the United States to be rebuilt.
The request was rejected by Palestinian groups and countries of the Arab world and labeled as “ethnic cleaning” by critics, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
