Hamas has released the names of three male hostages who are set to be freed on Saturday (Feb 15) as part of the sixth hostage-prisoner exchange.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that it had received the names of three hostages to be released by Palestinian militants.
The hostages being released include Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn, the office said in a statement on Friday.
Under the "prisoner exchange deal, the (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have decided to release the following Israeli prisoners (hostages) tomorrow, Saturday," Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed wing wrote on Telegram.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement went through a period of uncertainty after an impasse between Israel and Hamas. The Palestinian militant group announced on Monday (Feb 10) that it would indefinitely delay the next scheduled exchange of hostages and prisoners. The Palestinian militant group accused Israel of failing to uphold its commitments.
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"The release of the prisoners (Israeli hostages), which was scheduled for next Saturday, February 15, 2025, will be postponed until further notice, pending Israel's compliance and retroactive fulfilment of its obligations from past weeks," said Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Later, US President Donald Trump said that "all hell" would break loose if the hostages weren't released on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed his warning and said that his country would terminate the ceasefire agreement if Hamas failed to comply with the Saturday deadline for the next hostage-prisoner exchange.
Netanyahu added that Israel will resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if the Palestinian militant group doesn’t release hostages by midday Saturday.
"The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon - the ceasefire will be terminated, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)