TEL AVIV, Israel — An American and a Russian are among three hostages Hamas says it will release Saturday, resolving a dispute with Israel that had threatened to derail the ceasefire deal.
Hamas had previously said it would delay the release, alleging ceasefire violations by Israel, which Israel denied.
The three hostages to be released are Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, Alexander Trupanov, a 29-year-old dual Russian-Israeli citizen, and Yair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli, according to statements from Hamas and Israel.
In exchange, Hamas said it expects Israel on Saturday to release 36 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. These are prisoners convicted for deadly attacks against Israelis. Hamas said Israel on Saturday would also send 333 Palestinians back to Gaza after they were arrested there by Israeli forces during the recent war.
Freed Israeli hostages and their supporters remain concerned about the fate of the 76 hostages remaining in Gaza. Israel says as many as half of them are believed to be dead.
Keith Siegel, a dual American-Israeli released this month, said in his first public comments that he had been abused and held without water or sunlight when the Gaza war intensified.
"I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions, and every single day felt like it could be my last," he said in a video statement Friday. He credited President Trump with his release.
"President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive," Siegel said. "Your leadership and strength will ensure the agreement is honored by all sides."
Hamas threatened to delay the hostages' release
The Palestinian militant group had initially announced it would delay the hostage release earlier this week. It said Israel had violated the ceasefire by not ensuring enough temporary homes for displaced Palestinians and opening fire in parts of Gaza. Israel said Hamas was violating the deal by threatening to delay the hostage release, and suggested the sides could return to war.
Adding further pressure, Trump said all of the Israeli hostages in Gaza should be released by noon on Saturday or else the ceasefire should end and "all hell is going to break out." Trump has also angered Hamas with a plan for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate the enclave's residents to neighboring countries.
Mediators from Egypt and Qatar worked in recent days to resolve the Israel-Hamas dispute and prevent the resumption of a deadly war for Palestinians and Israelis, which devastated Gaza for more than 15 months. Hamas said in a statement the talks were "positive" and that it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement.
Concerns about the future of the ceasefire deal
An official familiar with the details and not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Israel is pressing for the release of additional hostages in the coming days.
The official said that talks to hammer out details for the next phase of the ceasefire have not yet begun. Those talks should have started more than a week ago, according to the ceasefire agreement.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire last month, there have been five rounds of exchanges, freeing a total of 16 Israeli hostages and more than 670 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Five Thai hostages who had been working in Israel as agricultural laborers at the time of their capture were also released, although they were not part of the deal.
Hamas has agreed to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees by the end of the initial phase of the ceasefire on March 2.
Thousands of Palestinians poured into northern Gaza after the ceasefire began, many on foot, returning to houses and apartment buildings destroyed in fighting. The war has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants from Hamas and other groups broke through the border with Israel and killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Yanal Jabarin in Jerusalem, Abu Bakr Bashir in London and Ahmed Abuhamda in Cairo contributed to this report.
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