Hamas to release six Israeli hostages this weekend in surprise announcement

Hamas is set to release six more hostages on Saturday as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Of the 33 hostages set to be freed under phase one of the three-stage ceasefire deal, 19 have already been released.

Israel says eight are dead of the remaining 14. This means the six to be freed on Saturday are the final living hostages to be exchanged under this phase of the deal. Only three were expected to be released this week.

Hamas said it would return four bodies during the exchange, which will also see the release of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, the majority held without charge.

The Bibas family will be included in the handover of these bodies, referring to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, Hamas said.

Hamas says Kfir Bibas was killed with his older brother and mother in an Israeli airstrike early in the war (Reuters)

Israel has said it was gravely concerned about the Bibas family, while Hamas said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war.

Kfir, who was 9 months old at the time, was the youngest hostage taken in the 7 October, 2023, attack by Hamas that triggered the onslaught by Israel on Gaza.

A video of the abduction showed Shiri swaddling her boys in a blanket and being whisked away by armed men.

Yarden Bibas, the husband and father, was kidnapped separately and released earlier this month.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to allow mobile homes and construction equipment into Gaza as part of efforts to accelerate the hostages' release, officials said.

Yarden Bibas, the husband and father, was kidnapped separately and released earlier this month (Supplied)

Hamas last week threatened to delay releases, citing the refusal to allow in mobile homes and heavy equipment among other alleged violations of the truce.

Hamas would still hold some 70 captives, around half believed to be dead, after phase one of the ceasefire ends.

The ceasefire's current phase ends at the beginning of March, and there are fears that fighting will then resume unless the fragile truce is extended.

Some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 abducted in the 7 October attack.

More than half the captives have been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals, while eight have been rescued in military operations.

Israel's air and ground war killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and his former defence secretary Yoav Gallant.