A senior U.S. administration source has disclosed to CNN that two American citizens held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7 are expected to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas announced on Wednesday.
The Americans slated for release are Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, according to the source. Along with them, five female IDF spotters—Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy—could be freed as early as Sunday.
Their expected release is part of the broader, phased agreement to secure the release of all the hostages held in Gaza. Currently, seven Americans remain in captivity there. IDF soldier Idan Alexander, Siegal and Dekel-Chen are presumed to be alive, and four other Americans initially listed among the hostages have been confirmed dead, their bodies still unrecovered.
U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed American citizens would be included in the first group of releases. However, he carefully avoided specifying numbers, identities or details regarding their condition.
“Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed,” Biden said. “It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin. I am also thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four [of whom are] awaiting [the] return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
