Three Israeli hostages who will be released on Saturday have been named by Hamas.
Israel and Hamas are exchanging hostages and prisoners as a fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza.
Ofer Kalderon, Keith Samuel Siegel and Yarden Bibas will be released, Hamas armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a post on his telegram channel.
It follows yesterday’s release of eight hostages – three Israelis and five Thai nationals – being held by Hamas in Gaza.
People gathering near Red Cross vehicles yesterday as hostages were released by Palestinian militants. Pic: Reuters
After a chaotic release that saw crowds swarm sections of the handover, Israel temporarily delayed the freeing of 110 Palestinians expected in exchange – underscoring how fragile the truce is.
In the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is returning 33 hostages over six weeks. In return, Israel is freeing 737 Palestinian prisoners.
Celebrating Palestinian prisoners after their late release in the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday. Pic: Reuters
Who are the hostages being freed?
All three of the hostages set to be released were taken in the October 7 2023 attack.
Yarden Bibas, now 35, was taken alongside his wife, Shiri Babas, and their two sons, four-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir – the youngest of Hamas’s hostages.
It is believed Yarden could be the only family member still alive.
In November 2023, Hamas said his wife and children had died in an Israeli airstrike before the current ceasefire. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said at the time it was “examining the reliability of the information”.
Hamas has said Yarden Bibas’s family – his wife Shiri and sons Ariel and Kfir (below) – are dead. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Keith Samuel Siegel, a 65-year-old dual US citizen, was abducted with his wife Aviva Adrienne Siegel – who was freed in the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023.
Last year, he featured in a video released by Hamas during the Passover holiday. In the footage, he broke down in tears and said he hoped he would be reunited with his family.
A banner with a picture of Keith Samuel Siegel. Pic: Reuters
Ofer Kalderon, 54, is the uncle of a 12-year-old girl found dead after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
The bodies of Noya Dan, who was autistic, and her grandmother, Carmela Dan, were found nearly a fortnight after the pair were reported missing.
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Mr Kalderon’s two children, Erez and Sahar, who were 12 and 16 at the time, were abducted alongside him. They were also released in the first exchange.
The release will be the fourth since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire took effect on 19 January.
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Gaza in numbers after 15 months of war
While the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is still holding, unrest is continuing elsewhere in the Middle East.
Early this morning, two people were killed and 10 others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on an unofficial border crossing in eastern Lebanon.
The IDF said in a statement it had struck “a military site that included underground infrastructure for developing and producing combat equipment” used by Hezbollah.