Palestinian resistance groups announce names of Israeli captives being released on Saturday

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, and Saraya Al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, today announced the names of three Israeli captives who are set to be released tomorrow as part of the sixth batch of the ongoing prisoner exchange deal under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

In a statement, the brigades’ spokesman Abu Ubaida said: “The Al-Qassam Brigades have decided to release the following Zionist prisoners tomorrow, Saturday: Alexander (Sasha) Turbanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Yair Horn.”

Separately, Saraya Al-Quds also confirmed the release of Turbanov in a statement.

The group’s spokesman, Abu Hamza, stated that “Saraya Al-Quds has decided to release the Israeli prisoner Alexander Turbanov tomorrow, Saturday.”

Israel has announced that it is releasing 369 Palestinians tomorrow.

On Thursday, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the agreement as signed, including the prisoner exchange, according to the agreed timeline.

Hamas indicated that mediators from Egypt and Qatar have worked to resolve obstacles caused by Israel’s violations of the agreement, describing the negotiations as “positive”.

These mediation efforts followed Hamas’ decision on Monday to suspend the release of Israeli captives until Tel Aviv ceases its violations and retroactively complies with the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.

The ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been in place in Gaza since 19 January, pausing the Israeli war that has killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

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