The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has the Names of the three hostages Liberated on Saturday, including the American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, after days of concern that a ceasefire could collapse with Israel.
The Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov and Argentinian Israeli Yair Horn, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz NIR OZ on 7 October 2023, will also be released on Saturday, who will mark 497 days in captivity.
Dekel-Chen is the second American to be released by Hamas since President Donald Trump came in again, after the release of Keith Siegel on 1 February.
Hamas said that the Alexander (Sasha) Troponov, 29, Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36, Yair Horn, 46, will release on Saturday 15 February 2025 in the next hostage.
International concern about the stability of the cessation -furen reached new heights after Hamas threatened not to release hostages – in direct violation of the agreement – after it claimed that Israel had violated the treaty by not facilitating the transport of humanitarian aid and focusing on Palestinians in air strikes.
Trump then said on Monday that Israel should cancel the -fire -fire -agreement if Hamas would not hand over all remaining hostages, not only the three scheduled that were released on 15 February under the Stakten -Fire Agreement.
Concerns established when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called on Hamas on Tuesday to release hostages in the coming Saturday, but did not indicate whether he intended all hostages or the three previously agreed.
“The Israeli formal position is that we have an agreement that must be fulfilled,” confirmed IDF -Major General Yaakov Amidror on Thursday during a discussion organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (Jinsa).
US President Donald Trump, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on 4 February 2025 in Washington, DC, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty images)
“We don’t want to (want to) shake the boat by adding (Trump’s question),” he said. “The question is, will Hamas fulfill the agreement on its part and release the three hostages?
“I think Hamas is not going to take the risk if this is the mood in Washington,” Amidror added. “But we don’t know.”
Only 16 of the 33 hostages released during the first 42-day phase of the cease-fire have been released.
After the first week of the Rocky Agreement, in which seven hostages were released, three hostages had to be released per week under conditions agreed by Hamas and Israel. The last 14 hostages will be released together on 22 February, so that the last week of the first phase is marked.
The Bibas family, from the left: Yarden, Ariel, Shiri and Kfir. Yarden was released by Hamas in February 2025. The fate of his family remains unknown. (From Bibas Levy)
The IDF has assessed that at least eight of the hostages that are planned for release in the first phase were killed in the imprisonment of Hamas, although the number could be higher as the fate of Shiri Bibas and her two young boys – Ariel, who was four years old when he was abducted in addition to his brother Kfir, who was nine months old – remains unaccompanied by the IDF.
Hamas has claimed that they were killed by an Israeli air raid, although the IDF has said that it has no evidence to support this.
Mediators would start negotiating conditions for the release of the remaining 65 hostages earlier this month, although Amidror said he did not believe they have officially started. At least 26 of those planned for release in the second phase are assessed to have been killed.
In recent weeks the Hostages have confirmed fears That they were tortured, questioned and starved during their time in the Hamas imprisonment. And the state of the hostages released last week led to a protest, because many pointed to the similarities in the appearance of the three men with images of those who survived the Holocaust.
Israeli hostages, from left to right, Ohd Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and or Levy, who have been hostageed by Hamas in Gaza since 7 October 2023, are taken to a stage by terrorists before being transferred to the Red Cross in Deir Al- Balah in the Central Gaza Strip on Saturday 8 February 2025. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Five other Americans remain in captivity, including Edan Alexander, 19, an IDF soldier and the only remaining American who is still alive, although he is not planned for releasing to the second phase of ceases -fires.
IDF -Solden Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 22, are supposed to have been killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and their bodies are still held alongside Gadi and Judi Haggai, who were also killed during the terrorist attack nearby Their Kibbutz.
Siegel, 65, thanked Trump for his help in securing his release, but insisted on him to ensure that it is striking -the fires is maintained and said: “Your leadership and strength will ensure that the agreement is done by All sides is honored – that’s what all makes everything. Hostages to return to their families, “he added.
