After several days of a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement facing the threat of collapse, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced they would release the names of three Israeli hostages on Saturday. These three hostages have been held for over 497 days.
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03-20, 2025The three hostages to be released are Alexander "Sasha" Trufanov, Sagi Dekel-Chen, and Iyar Horn. Hamas announced on Thursday that it remains committed to adhering to the Gaza ceasefire agreement after receiving promises that much-needed shelter equipment would be delivered to Gaza. This came after Hamas threatened to indefinitely postpone future hostage releases due to alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
In response, the Israeli government stated that failure to release more living hostages by noon on Saturday would mean the agreement would be torn up, and fighting in Gaza would resume. It remains unclear at which location in Gaza the three men will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, whether they will be handed over together, and the specific timing of the release.
The three men were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border. 29-year-old Sasha Trufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother, and partner. The three women were released during the last ceasefire in November 2023. 36-year-old Sagi Dekel-Chen has never met his youngest daughter, who was born two months after he was kidnapped. A month ago, the father of the Israeli-American dual citizen told ABC News that his family had not received any news about his well-being since late 2023. 46-year-old Iyar Horn, an Israeli-Argentinian dual citizen, has been working in the construction industry.
The release of these three men would bring the number of Israeli hostages released in the "first phase" of the ceasefire to 19, with 33 expected to be released by March 2. Eight of the remaining hostages are already dead. Saturday's transfer will trigger the release of a batch of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from prisons across Israel by Israeli authorities, sending them back to the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office stated that 369 Palestinians would be released, including 36 who were sentenced to life imprisonment, with the remainder being detained in Gaza during the war.
This week, the fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement nearly collapsed entirely after Hamas accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement. The armed group is particularly concerned about delays in the delivery of emergency shelters such as tents and caravans, which are urgently needed after Gaza was hit by damp winter weather. Convoys carrying these supplies have been queuing at the Rafah crossing in Egypt, awaiting Israeli approval to enter the war-torn area. "Our life is very difficult, only Gazans know how it feels," 40-year-old Majed El-Kurd, a resident of Deir al-Balah, told ABC News. "The Israeli army is banning mobile homes, caravans, which makes it difficult for us. Summer is hot and in winter we are flooded." Israel has denied claims that it is preventing aid from entering Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces has deployed troops and tanks to the Gaza border area in response to the possibility of the ceasefire agreement being torn up, exacerbating Palestinian anxiety. Negotiations on what will happen after the current six-week ceasefire agreement ends on March 2 have derailed due to disagreements, and there are many disputes on how to achieve lasting peace in Gaza. Donald Trump's intervention in recent weeks, proposing to turn Gaza into the Middle East's Riviera and clear out the Palestinians living there, continues to have a significant impact on negotiations. His proposal to resettle Gazans in countries such as Egypt and Jordan has been met with contempt by Arab leaders. "Trump says every day that he wants to buy Gaza, or he wants to occupy Gaza," Mahmoud Bajet Wadi, a 20-year-old youth from northern Gaza, told ABC News. "He asks us why we live in the ruins. We are okay living in the ruins. Even if our bodies are dismembered, we will stay in Gaza."
The families of the remaining Israeli hostages have urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire agreement so that their loved ones can return home. They fear that Netanyahu may be preparing to abandon the ceasefire agreement, succumbing to demands from hard-line members of his coalition government to launch a new offensive against Hamas.
