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

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

They have been held by Gaza militants since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said that Israel would release "36 prisoners serving life sentences" for attacks against Israelis, with 24 of them expected to be deported, as well as 333 Gazans taken into custody during the war.

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

The January 19 ceasefire has been under massive strain since US President Donald Trump proposed a takeover of the territory, under which the Gaza Strip's population of more than two million would be moved to Egypt or Jordan.

Arab countries have come together to reject the plan, and Saudi Arabia will host the leaders of Egypt, Jordan,........

© Al Monitor