Hamas has released the names of three hostages due to be freed on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

They are 29-year-old Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 46-year-old Argentine-Israeli Yair Horn, and 36-year-old US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, whom were all seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz on the edge of Gaza.

Israel has threatened to resume bombing if the three are not released on time, this came after Hamas said it was postponing the releases in response to alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire

Pitching his support for Israel, the United States President Donald Trump opined the ceasefire should be scrapped if Hamas did not release all the hostages held in Gaza by Saturday midday.

The ceasefire began on 19 January, a total of 33 hostages should be freed in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, 73 hostages are still being held in Gaza.

There are also three other Israeli hostages – one of whom is dead – who have been held in Gaza for a decade or more, BBC reported.

More than 48,230 people have been killed by the Israel offensive in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The ceasefire has been under strain since it began, intense efforts by mediators US, Egypt and Qatar have managed to stop it from collapsing.