Gaza militant groups name three hostages to be released on Saturday

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian militant groups in Gaza said they would release hostages Iair Horn, U.S.-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen and Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov on Saturday, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire with Israel.

All three men were seized in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities around the Gaza Strip that was overrun by Hamas gunmen on October 7, 2023. Iair Horn's brother Eitan was taken at the same time and remains in captivity.

Hamas said Israel was expected to release 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange.

The announcement of the names by Hamas, the main militant group in Gaza, came after days of uncertainty about whether the 42-day ceasefire agreed last month would hold and followed intense efforts by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to keep the U.S.-backed deal alive.

It was unclear from Israel's response whether it accepted that the ceasefire was back on track. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel accepted the list before issuing a revised statement saying it had "received" it.

"This was a mere factual description that does not reflect an Israeli comment on the issue," it said.

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.

Even before the Hamas threat not to proceed with the hostage release, Israelis had been outraged by the emaciated appearance of the three hostages released last week and by the public display before a Gaza crowd when they were handed over to Red Cross officials.

As the standoff continued, the military said it was calling up reserve units and had placed forces around the Gaza Strip on high alert for a resumption of combat operations.

U.S. President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying the ceasefire should be cancelled and "all hell break loose" unless all the hostages were released on Saturday.

Trump's earlier call for Palestinians to be moved permanently out of Gaza and for the enclave to be turned over to the United States to be redeveloped had already upended expectations around the deal, intended as the first stage of a longer process to end the 15-month war in Gaza.

The call was rejected by Palestinian groups and countries in the Arab world and labelled as "ethnic cleansing" by critics including United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

WASTELAND

Hamas agreed last month to hand over 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children and older men, in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, during a six-week truce during which Israeli forces would pull back from some of their positions in Gaza.

The truce was intended to open the way for a second phase of negotiations to return remaining hostages and complete the withdrawal of Israeli forces before a final end to the war and the rebuilding of Gaza, which now lies largely in ruins.

Hamas has accused Israel of blocking the entry of tens of thousands of tents and temporary shelter materials into Gaza, leaving tens of thousands exposed to the winter cold, a charge that Israel has rejected.

"No caravans, heavy equipment, or machinery have entered the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing so far," said Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. "We hope they will enter in the coming hours according to assurances from the relevant parties."

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates the aid deliveries, said 4,200 humanitarian aid trucks had entered Gaza this week, carrying food, fuel, medical supplies, tents and shelter equipment.

International aid groups say that more truckloads of aid have been entering Gaza since the start of the ceasefire but aid officials say the amounts are insufficient to meet the needs of the population.

Israel invaded the coastal enclave after the Hamas-led attack on communities in Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and taking more than 250 as hostages.

The Israeli military campaign that followed has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, destroyed many of its buildings and left most of the population homeless.

(Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah, Jana Choukeir in Cairo; Writing by James Mackenzie, Editing by Aidan Lewis, Timothy Heritage and Toby Chopra)