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Hamas agrees to release 3 hostages on Saturday to save Gaza ceasefire

Hamas willing to free three Israeli hostages on Saturday, a step Israel has said  would be enough to maintain the current ceasefire – despite Trump’s ultimatum and mixed messages from Netanyahu.

By World Israel News Staff

The impending collapse of the Gaza ceasefire appears to have been averted Thursday, with Israel and Hamas both expressing a willingness to return to the original terms of the deal after the Islamic terror group threatened on Monday to delay the return of three Israeli hostages, scheduled to be released on Saturday.

On Thursday, the Hamas terror organization issued a statement confirming that it will release three Israeli hostages this coming Saturday.

A day earlier, Israel’s Walla outlet reported that Jerusalem has indicated to Hamas, via Egyptian and Qatari mediators, that Israel was willing to continue the Gaza ceasefire if Hamas releases three Israeli hostages on Saturday, as originally planned.

Citing an unnamed source, AFP reported that the Egyptian and Qatari interlocutors have secured Hamas’s assurance that the Saturday hostage release of three captives will be carried out as planned.

“Hamas has confirmed to Egyptian officials its commitment… to conducting the sixth exchange of prisoners on time, on Saturday, as soon as Israel honors its commitment,” one source said.

Read  Israel redeems six hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza

Another source told AFP that “there is progress” toward resolving the crisis, adding that Israel has vowed to “put in place a humanitarian protocol starting this morning.”

“Prefabricated units, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicine, materials for repairing hospitals, and everything linked to the humanitarian protocol” will be brought into the Gaza Strip, the source continued.

President Donald Trump threatened earlier this week that “all hell” will break loose if Hamas does not return all the remaining hostages this Saturday by noon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a full resumption of war if “our hostages” are not returned by Saturday at noon, without specifying how many hostages would have to be released to keep the truce in place.