Hamas announced it will release three more hostages on Saturday as part of its ceasefire agreement with Israel, U.S. and Israeli media outlets reported on Friday. Among those set to be freed is Argentine-Israeli Iair Horn, who was kidnapped together with his brother Eitan from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Eitan was not named in the statement and remains unaccounted for. 

The two other men who will be released are Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov and U.S.-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen. 

Horn will be the 12th Argentine to be freed since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Ten of them were released in late November 2023 as part of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that saw both sides release prisoners. The most recent hostage released was Yarden Bibas, father and husband of a kidnapped Argentine family, part of the exchange tied to a new ceasefire that began on January 19. 

The Horn brothers were among the first victims that family members were able to confirm had been taken hostage by Hamas. Their father Itzik made the announcement in November 2023, adding that they were “alive and well.” There has been no additional public information on their condition following that. 

Hamas’ announcement comes in the midst of tensions with Israel that came close to jeopardizing the ceasefire entirely. Earlier this week, the Palestinian militant group said that it would suspend the next hostage release due to what it said were violations of the terms of the truce. Israel responded by saying that if no hostages were released on Saturday, they would resume their military campaign. The situation led to the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, who managed to resolve the matter and set things temporarily back on track. 

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters burst across the border fence into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In the ensuing war, Israeli Defense Forces killed at least 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.