The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas released the Names of the three hostages To be released on Saturday, notably the Americans-Israelis Sagui Dekel-Chen, the following concerns that a cease-fire agreement with Israel can collapse.
Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov and the Argentinian-Israeli Horn Yair, who, with Dekel-Chen, were kidnapped by Hamas of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, will also be published on Saturday, which will mark 497 days in captivity.
Dekel-Chen is the second American to be released by Hamas since President Donald Trump entered the office after the release of Keith Siegel on February 1.
Hamas said he would release Alexander (Sasha) Troponov, 29, Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36, Yair Horn, 46, on Saturday February 15, 2025 in the next hostage outing.
International concerns concerning the stability of the ceasefire have reached new heights after Hamas threatened to no longer release hostages – in direct violation of the agreement – after having affirmed that Israel had violated the treaty by not facilitating the transport of humanitarian aid and targeting the Palestinians in the air strikes.
Trump then said on Monday that Israel should cancel the ceasefire agreement if Hamas had not given all the remaining hostages, not only the three which should be released on February 15 under the agreement of ceasefire.
The concern has shown that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called on Hamas to release hostages on Saturday, but did not specify if he meant all the hostages or the three previously accepted.
“The Israeli official position is that we have an agreement that should be completed,” said the Major des FDI retired Yaakov Amidror on Thursday during a discussion organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security in America (JINSA) .
US President Donald Trump, accompanied by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks during a meeting at the Oval Blank Office on February 4, 2025, in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
“We don’t do [want to] Shake the boat by adding [Trump’s] Asks, “he said.” The question is the following: will Hamas fulfill the agreement for its part and will it publish the three hostages?
“I think Hamas will not take the risk now when it is the mood in Washington,” added Amidror. “But we don’t know.”
Only 16 of the 33 hostages that should be released during the first phase of 42 days of the ceasefire were released.
After the first week of the Rocky agreement, which saw the release of seven hostages, three hostages per week were to be published under the conditions agreed by Hamas and Israel. The last 14 hostages will be published together on February 22, marking the last week of the first phase.
The Bibas family, on the left: Yarden, Ariel, Shiri and Kfir. Yarden was released by Hamas in February 2025. The fate of his family remains unknown. (Ofri Bibas Levy)
The FDI has evaluated that at least eight of the hostages planned to release in the first phase were killed in captivity of Hamas, although the number could be higher like the fate of Shiri Bibas and her two young boys – Ariel, who was four years old when he was removed alongside her brother Kfir, who was nine months – remains not confirmed by the FDI.
Hamas said it was killed by an Israeli air strike, although the FDI said it did not have evidence to support this.
The mediators had to start negotiating conditions for the release of the 65 hostages remaining earlier this month, although ImiTROR said that he did not think that they had officially started. At least 26 of the people who should be released in the second phase were assessed for being killed.
In recent weeks, the The hostages have confirmed the fears that they were tortured, interviewed and hungry during their Hamas captivity stay. And the state of the hostages published last week sparked an uproar, because many highlighted the apparently similar similarities to images of those who survived the Holocaust.
The emaciated Israeli hostages, from left to right, Ohad ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and / or Levy, who have been detained hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, are taken by terrorists to a scene before being Returned to the Red Cross in Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza central band on Saturday February 8, 2025. (AP / Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Five other Americans remain in captivity, including Edan Alexander, 19, a TSAhal soldier and the only American still assessed to be alive, although he is not planned before the second phase of the ceasefire.
Tsahal Itay Chen soldiers, 19, and Omer Neutra, 22, were said to have been killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and their bodies continue to be held alongside Gadi and Judi Haggai, who were also killed during of the terrorist attack near their Kibbutz.
Siegel, 65, thanked Trump to help guarantee his release, but exhorted her to make sure that the ceasefire is confirmed and said: “Your leadership and your strength will guarantee that the agreement is Honored by all sides-this is what will allow everyone … hostages to go home to their families, “he added.
