Hamas has agreed to free 3 hostages on Saturday in accordance with deal, official tells ToI

Hamas is on track to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement both sides reached last month, a senior Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.

However, the diplomat stresses that Israel should not expect Hamas to release additional hostages either on Saturday or the immediate days that follow, as this is not what was stipulated in the agreement.

“We got Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday, after it was threatening not to release any of them. To assume that they will go beyond that would be a stretch,” the diplomat says.

Israel’s Channel 12 and Kan News also report that Israel believes Hamas will send the names tomorrow afternoon of three hostages to be freed on Saturday.

Channel 12 says that Israel, via the mediators, is trying to pressure Hamas to release in the next few days the other six living hostages who are set to go free under the current first phase of the deal — that is, ahead of the schedule under which they would be freed, three at a time, on February 22 and March 1.

Israel has been pushing for their expedited release since last Saturday’s release of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami in emaciated condition.

Channel 12 further reports that Israeli efforts to have more living hostages added to the “humanitarian” category and thus released in the current first phase of the deal, rather than phase two, have been rejected by Hamas, which has told mediators that it is “not prepared to discuss” the idea.

The mediators are said to be urging Israel to begin negotiations in earnest on phase two of the deal, warning that, if this does not happen, the rest of phase one could be at risk. It is possible, says the TV report, that Israel could despatch a delegation to Qatar for such talks next week.

It also notes that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is headed to Israel on Saturday night, is set to meet families of hostages on Sunday.