Hamas names 3 Israeli hostages to be released as part of ceasefire

Jerusalem: Hamas militants on Friday named three Israeli male hostages to be released at the weekend as part of a fragile ceasefire deal that had teetered in recent days amid a major dispute that raised the spectre of fighting resuming in the devastated Gaza Strip.

Hamas and a forum representing families of hostages identified the three to be freed Saturday as Israeli-Argentinian Iair Horn, 46; Israeli-American Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Israeli-Russian Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29. The trio were abducted from the same hard-hit kibbutz during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which began on January 21, Israel is to release more than 300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails in return for the hostages. The exchange will be the sixth swap since the ceasefire came into effect. So far, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners have been freed during the first phase of the truce.