The families of Israeli hostages still held by the Hamas militant group on Friday welcomed the “joyous news” that three men, all taken from the same kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023, are expected to be freed on Saturday in exchange for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Hamas-led militants released the three names Friday in the latest indication that the fragile ceasefire deal — which had teetered in recent days — will hold. Nearly all the 73 remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers, and about half are believed to be dead.
The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners so far during the first phase of the truce. The war could resume if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages captured in Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and an indefinite extension of the truce.
Here’s the latest:
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BEIRUT — The U.S. representative on a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war said Friday that “significant progress” had been made ahead of a looming deadline to implement all the terms of the deal.
However, Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers’ statement appeared to leave some ambiguity on whether Israel would withdraw its forces from all of southern Lebanon by the ceasefire’s Feb. 18 deadline, saying only that he was confident “all population centers in the Southern Litani Area” would be back under Lebanese control by then.
In areas where Israeli forces pull out, the Lebanese army and a U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL are tasked with ensuring Hezbollah does not reestablish a military presence.
The deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw was initially set for late January, but Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend it. Lebanese officials say they won’t agree to another extension and adamantly reject an Israeli proposal to keep its forces in five border points after leaving other areas.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that his country had proposed a beefed-up UNIFIL presence, including French forces, in place of Israeli troops at those five points. The monitoring committee also includes France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Hamas-linked prisoners’ information office says that a total of 369 Palestinians jailed by Israel will be released Saturday in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
It said Friday that 36 of the Palestinians scheduled for release were serving life sentences. The statement did not specify how many of them would be released into exile in Egypt ahead of deportation to other countries as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The rest of the 333 Palestinians were from Gaza, all arrested after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the 15-month war.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel committed to release more than 1,000 Palestinians from Gaza detained during the Israeli invasion of the enclave on the condition that they had not participated in the Oct. 7 attack.
The Palestinian Authority did not immediately announce the names of those set to be freed Saturday.
JERUSALEM — The three men set to be freed by Hamas on Saturday in the sixth wave of hostage releases under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire are all Israeli civilians with dual nationalities.
All were from the same communal farm, Kibbutz Nir Oz, where some 80 of roughly 400 residents were taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
The men are Israeli-Argentinian Iair Horn, 46, Israeli-Russian Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, and Israeli-American Sagui Dekel Chen, 36.
Horn is an Israel-Argentinian who was kidnapped along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who was staying with him at the time. Eitan Horn remains in Hamas captivity.
Chen was outside working on a bus renovation when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife, Avital, hid in the safe room with their two daughters. Avital was seven months pregnant and gave birth to a third daughter, Shachar Mazal, in December, while Dekel Chen was in captivity.
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