US official says 2 American-Israeli hostages to be freed in first phase of deal

American-Israelis Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen will be among the 33 hostages released in the first phase of the hostage deal announced today, a senior Biden administration official tells reporters.

Siegel is part of the category of elderly hostages, while Dekel-Chen was shot on October 7 and is therefore considered among the wounded. The third American hostage believed to still be alive, Edan Alexander, is a soldier, and therefore won’t be released until the second 42-day phase, but the US is committed to securing his release, the senior official says during a briefing.

The bodies of four other Americans still held in Gaza will be released in the third phase, the official says.

While the senior US official says five female IDF soldiers captured on October 7 will be released on the first day of the deal, Israeli officials later tell reporters that is not the case.