Hamas yesterday released the names of three hostages due to be freed today in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, after days of fears over the future of the ceasefire.
They are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentine-Israeli Yair Horn, and US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Israel had said it would resume bombing if the three were not released on time. The warning came after Hamas said it was postponing the releases in response to alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
President Trump said the ceasefire should be scrapped if Hamas did not release all the hostages held in Gaza by midday today.
Since the ceasefire began on 19 January, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 766 prisoners.
During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages should be freed in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
More than 48,230 people have been killed by the Israel offensive in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
