Red Cross vehicles have arrived at the site in the Gaza Strip where Hamas is expected to release three Israeli hostages, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The planned release on Saturday comes after a dispute in recent days that threatened to derail the ceasefire agreement that ended more than 15 months of war sparked by the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Under the agreement, Israel must release 396 Palestinian prisoners for the three hostages.
This will be the sixth exchange since the ceasefire took effect on January 19. So far, 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners have been released in the first phase of the truce.
The truce, which began almost four weeks ago, has been threatened in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to lead to renewed fighting. US President Donald Trump's controversial proposal to move more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast further doubt on the future of the truce.
"Hamas" said on Thursday it would proceed with the release of more hostages after talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials. The group said the mediators had promised to "remove all obstacles" to ensure that Israel allows more tents, medical supplies and other essential goods into Gaza.
Jordan also commented on Washington's intentions. At the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that 35% of his country's population is refugees and Amman cannot afford to take in any more settlers.