Israel says received names of 3 hostages to be freed Saturday

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel said Friday it had received the names of three hostages to be freed by militants this weekend, after a crisis in the ceasefire threatened to plunge Gaza back into war.

The hostages due for release Saturday are Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

One of them is being held by Hamas's militant ally Islamic Jihad, which participated in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel had warned Hamas that it must free three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war, after the group said it would pause releases over what it described as Israeli violations of the Gaza truce.

The January 19 ceasefire has been under massive strain since President Donald Trump proposed a US takeover of the territory.

Arab countries have come together to reject the plan, and Saudi Arabia will on February 20 host the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for a summit on the issue.

Red Cross calls for access

The releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as agreed under the terms of the truce, have brought much-needed relief to families on both sides of the war, but the emaciated state of the Israeli captives freed last week sparked anger in Israel and beyond.

"The latest release operations reinforce the urgent need for ICRC access to those held hostage," the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the exchanges, said in a statement Friday.

"We remain very concerned about the conditions of the hostages."

Following Hamas's handover ceremony last week, during which the captives were forced to speak, the ICRC appealed for future handovers to be more private and dignified.

Trump warned this week that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release "all" remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.

Israel later insisted Hamas release "three living hostages" on Saturday.

"If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end," said government spokesman David Mencer.

If fighting resumes, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said it would not just lead to the "defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages", but also "allow the realisation of US President Trump's vision for Gaza".

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due in Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the ceasefire after attending the Munich Security Conference, where he will hold talks on Ukraine.

Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for "voluntary" departures from Gaza, and the military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around the territory.

Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not "given up on anything yet".

"They're just playing power games," she said.

Arab countries have put on a rare show of unity in their rejection of Trump's proposal for Gaza.

After the Riyadh summit, the Arab League will convene in Cairo on February 27 to discuss the same issue.