In uphill battle, Israel working to secure early release of 3 living hostages together with 3 others on Saturday

Channel 12 reports that Israel is working to secure the release on Saturday of all six remaining living hostages slated for release in the ongoing first phase.

Only three hostages are supposed to be released this Saturday, according to the terms of the deal, with the remaining three living hostages not scheduled to be released until the following Saturday.

It is unclear what leverage Israel has on Hamas to release additional hostages early, and one Israeli official tells Channel 12 that he expects Hamas to hold on to at least one hostage until the end of phase one, as leverage to ensure that Israel is holding negotiations regarding phase two, which to date it has refused to do, in violation of the agreement.