In the sixth exchange of a truce that nearly broke down this week, Gaza militants are scheduled to free three Israeli hostages on Saturday in return for 369 Palestinians held by Israel.
Israel and Hamas have accused one other of breaking the ceasefire that was established on January 19. Israel has threatened to resume hostilities in the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian organization has stated that it will pazuse releases.
However, all parties gave indications on Friday that the hostage release planned for Saturday will proceed.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named the hostages due for release as Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn, who have been held by Gaza militants since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, 2024 that sparked the war.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said that Israel was to release 369 inmates in exchange, with 24 of them expected to be deported.
The vast majority, 333 people, are “prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after 7 October”, the group said.
Hamas stated on Friday that it anticipated negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire to start early next week, following the crisis that seemed to push the tenuous truce to its breaking point.
Ahead of anticipated negotiations with Netanyahu on the Gaza truce, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose nation is Israel’s largest supporter and has participated in mediation attempts during the conflict, is scheduled to arrive in Israel late Saturday.
The malnourished condition of the released Israeli hostages raised concerns about circumstances in captivity, and the release last week incited indignation in Israel and worldwide.
In a prior encounter, Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel claimed to have been “starved and… tortured, both physically and emotionally” while in custody.
Concerns were also raised concerning Palestinians detained by Israel when several of the inmates needed medical care upon their release.
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