Israel has announced the names of the three hostages set to be released Saturday, in what would be the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal that came into effect last month.
Israel said Friday that Palestinian militants will release American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexandre Troufanov and Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn.
A release of 369 Palestinian prisoners by Israel is expected to follow, Hamas’ Prisoner Media Office said.
Troufanov was kidnapped at the age of 27 from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 along with his grandmother, Irena Tati, his mother Lena Troufanov and girlfriend Sapir Cohen, who were all released in a previous deal. His father Vitaly was killed during the attack.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which kidnapped him, has released several videos of him in captivity.
Dekel-Chen was 35 years old when he was kidnapped while trying to defend his Nir Oz from Hamas attackers. His wife Avital was pregnant with their third child during the attack. His third daughter was born while he was in captivity and turned one in December.
Horn, now 46, was also captured from Nir Oz with his brother Eitan, who remains in captivity.
The announcement comes after a dispute this week with between Hamas and Israel over the Gaza ceasefire, after Hamas said it wouldn’t release Israeli hostages Saturday as planned due to alleged Israeli violations. The differences appeared to have been resolved on Thursday when Hamas said it would release the hostages as planned.
The spat was compounded by US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to dismiss the multi-staged approach of the ceasefire deal altogether and giving Hamas an ultimatum to release all the hostages at once.
While Netanyahu welcomed Trump’s demand, he didn’t explicitly agree to it – instead issuing an ambiguous statement, saying Hamas must “return our hostages by Saturday noon” – without giving a figure – or the military “will return to intense fighting until Hamas is completely defeated.”
David Mencer, spokesman at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday that while the return of all hostages is a key war objective, Israel would end the ceasefire in Gaza if three live hostages were not released on Saturday by noon local time.
‘Unimaginable conditions’
In a video message to US President Donald Trump on Friday, former Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel asked that the American leader to help bring back remaining captives.
“I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions, and every single day felt like it could be my last. President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive. Please bring them home,” Siegel, who was released from Hamas captivity two weeks ago, said.
Former hostage Or Levy, who was released last Saturday, visited Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Friday and said that while he has been freed, “I still have many brothers and sisters in the hell of Gaza, and their time is running out.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which coordinates the exchanges, said on Friday that it remains “very concerned about the conditions of the hostages.”
“The latest release operations reinforce the urgent need for ICRC access to those held hostage,” it said on X, adding that “we have consistently reiterated that release and transfer operations should be carried out in a dignified and safe manner.”
Israel has protested against the way Hamas choreographed previous releases, often parading hostages on stage in front of large audiences and have them surrounded by armed militants in a show of force.
The three male Israeli hostages freed in the fifth round of exchanges appeared gaunt and frail, which was condemned as “shocking” by Israel.
Palestinian prisoners released by Israel have also reported mistreatment during their detention and release.
So far, 16 out of 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals scheduled for release in the current phase of the agreement have been freed by Palestinian militants, and 656 Palestinian prisoners from a list of nearly 2,000 have been released by Israel.
