Today, Friday, the Israeli authorities are waiting for Hamas to inform them of the names of the three hostages it intends to release tomorrow, Saturday, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, after an exchange of threats between the two sides raised fears of renewed fighting.

Hamas's position indicates that a new exchange will take place on Saturday for Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

This came as Extra News, a news channel linked to Egyptian intelligence, reported that Egypt and Qatar had succeeded in "overcoming the obstacles that were facing the completion of the implementation of the ceasefire and the commitment of both parties to complete the implementation of the truce" that stopped a devastating war between Israel and Hamas that lasted for about 15 months in the Gaza Strip.

The agreement was put to the test on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump threatened the Palestinian movement with "opening the gates of hell" unless it released by Saturday "all Israeli hostages" still being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has reiterated those threats, with government spokesman David Mincer saying Thursday that "the ceasefire understandings make it clear that Hamas must release the three hostages alive on Saturday." He added, "If these three are not released, and Hamas does not return our hostages to us by noon on Saturday, the ceasefire agreement will end."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that "heavy fighting" would resume in Gaza, while his Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said on Wednesday that "the gates of hell will open... as the US president promised" if Hamas did not release the hostages by Saturday.

According to the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19 and whose first phase lasts for 42 days, the sixth exchange of hostages and prisoners was supposed to take place tomorrow, Saturday, but Hamas announced its postponement, accusing Israel of “obstructing” the implementation of the agreement, especially obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid into the devastated Strip.

Palestinian sources explained that the mediators "held intensive discussions and obtained an initial Israeli pledge to implement the provisions of the humanitarian protocol starting from Thursday morning," which will allow the entry of "caravans, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicines, and hospital restoration materials" into the Strip.