HAMAS militants named today three Israeli hostages to be released at the weekend as part of a fragile ceasefire deal.

Hamas and a forum representing families of hostages identified the three to be freed Saturday as Israeli-Argentinian Iair Horn, 46; Israeli-US citizen Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Israeli-Russian Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29. The trio were abducted from the same hard-hit kibbutz during the October 7 2023 attack on Israel.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which began on January 21, Israel is to release more than 300 Palestinian captives held in Israeli jails in return for the Israelis. The exchange will be the sixth swap since the ceasefire came into effect.