Hamas planning to release three hostages over the weekend

Palestinian militants are scheduled to release Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, and Ofer Calderon into Israeli custody on Saturday, the Hamas-run Shehab News Agency reported Friday. The Gaza-based terrorist group is releasing the three hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement it reached with Israel earlier this month, the statement said.

What did their families have to say about this? The hostage advocacy group Bring Them Home Now issued a statement Friday rejoicing over the trio’s expected release. The three hostages will have spent 484 days in captivity by the time they are released, the organization said.

How many hostages are still in Gaza? The group noted in another statement several hours earlier that 82 hostages remain in Gaza. That total will drop to 79 when Bibas, Siegel, and Calderon are released. The group promised that it will not cease calling for the release of more hostages until every single one of them—dead or alive—has been returned to their loved ones.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report in The Sift about Keith Siegel’s wife, Aviva, and the horrors she witnessed while also a captive in Gaza.