Hamas is preparing to release only three Israeli hostages on Saturday, as stipulated in a ceasefire agreement reached by both sides last month, a senior Arab diplomat told Israeli media.
Those being released are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, and US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen.
However, the diplomat emphasises that Israel should not expect Hamas to release additional hostages on Saturday or in the coming days, as this is not stipulated in the agreement.
“We forced Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday after it threatened not to release any of them. To assume they would go further would be a mistake,” the diplomat said.
Israel is trying to pressure Hamas through mediators to release the remaining six live hostages in the coming days, who are to be released in accordance with the current first phase of the agreement, i.e. ahead of the schedule that they will be released three at a time, on February 22 and March 1.
Since the truce began, 16 Israeli hostages as well as five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 566 prisoners. In total, 33 Israelis will be released in exchange for 1,900 Palestinians held in Israel in the first six weeks of the ceasefire agreement.
