Hamas to free hostages as planned to keep Gaza ceasefire from collapsing
The militant group had originally said it would stop freeing captives, leading Israel to threaten to return to war
Palestinian militant groups in Gaza said they would release hostages Iair Horn, US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen and Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov on Saturday, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire with Israel.
The announcement, after days of uncertainty about whether the ceasefire agreed last month would hold, followed intense efforts by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to keep last month’s US-backed agreement on track.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the list.
Hamas had earlier threatened not to release more hostages after it accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by blocking aid from entering Gaza, drawing counterthreats of a resumption of fighting from Israel.
The 42-day ceasefire has appeared close to failure since Hamas on Monday unexpectedly announced it would stop releasing hostages, leading Israel to respond with a threat to return to war.
Hamas said it did not want the deal to collapse, though it rejected what it called the “language of threats and intimidation” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. They have said the ceasefire should be cancelled if the hostages were not released.