Hamas releases three hostages, including U.S. citizen Sagui Dekel Chen
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Sagui Dekel Chen with his wife after being released. Photo: IDF
Hamas released three hostages on Saturday, including American citizen Sagui Dekel Chen, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Why it matters: Hamas' decision to comply with the deal's original terms ended the standoff that imperiled the fragile ceasefire agreement.
- Another 14 hostages are supposed to be released in the next two weeks as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, six of them are alive.
Like previous releases in recent weeks, Hamas organized a public "ceremony" and paraded Sagui Dekel Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn before handing them over to the Red Cross.
- 36 Palestinian prisoners who were serving life sentences for murdering Israelis and 333 Palestinians who were detained by the IDF in Gaza during the war were released on Saturday.
The big picture: President Trump issued a public ultinaum this week, saying the ceasefire should end if Hamas did not release all remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.
- On Friday, when it was clear Hamas was only going to release three hostages and that the Israeli government would accept that, Trump said he would have taken a harder stance if he was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Trump also took credit for the release of the three hostages and claimed his ultimatum forced Hamas to back off from their threat not to release the three hostages.
- The Israeli prime minister's office, which has been scrambling in recent days in order to move forward with the original plan for the release without publicly contradicting Trump, decided on Saturday to give the U.S. president credit for the release.
The prime minister's office said Hamas tried to violate the deal and create "a false crisis under false claims".
- "But due to the concentration of our forces inside the Strip and around it, and to President Trump's clear and unequivocal statement, Hamas backed down, and the release of the hostages proceeded."
"Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their statement last week that they would not release any Hostages," Trump said in a Truth Social post Saturday.
- "Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O'CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!"
What's next: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
- White House envoy Steve Witkoff will also arrive in Israel on Sunday for discussions about Gaza.
