Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) named three Israeli hostages to be freed in Gaza on Friday after mounting fears over the fragility of the ceasefire-hostage exchange deal.
The three men are Alexander Trufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Yair Horn, and they will be exchanged for 369 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The exchange is expected tomorrow as Israel has accepted the list, Al Jazeera reported.
The announcement comes amid mounting fears that the fragile ceasefire will be broken after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement and proposed hostage exchanges would be halted until further notice.
In response to Hamas’s statement, US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to shell Gaza if Hamas does not “free all hostages” by Saturday.
Despite the threats, experts believe that Israel is “likely too weak” to change the course of the ceasefire, Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera.
“Israel’s attempt to insist that all the captives are to be released on Saturday is based on a very vague, intentionally ambiguous statement by US President Trump, who talked about the release of all the captives,” he said.