Sagui Dekel-Chen, Alexandre Troufanov, Yair Horn to be freed Saturday

Israel has stated it will resume combat in Gaza if three hostages are not freed on time, after Hamas announced it was delaying the releases in response to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

Three hostages will be released by Gaza-based terrorist groups on Saturday, according to a Hamas official on Friday, in line with the terms of the ceasefire.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office published their names after it said the list was received from Hamas via mediators Qatar and Egypt. Set for release are: Russian-Israeli Alexandre “Sasha” Troufanov, 29; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; and Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, 46.

The PMO added that the names were being shared with the consent of their families.

The Hamas official confirmed to Reuters that Dekel-Chen was among those set to be released from captivity. Separately, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group said that it would free Russian-Israeli Troufanov as part of the arrangement.

Israel has stated it will resume combat in Gaza if three hostages are not freed on time, after Hamas announced it was delaying the releases in response to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the ceasefire to be abandoned if Hamas did not release all hostages held in Gaza by noon Saturday.

Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 566 Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons. This will be the sixth round of hostage releases.

During the first six weeks of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages are set to be freed in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian terrorists held in Israel. Hamas says eight on the list are dead.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Seventy-six hostages remain in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped on Oct. 7.