Hamas accused Israel of multiple breaches of their ceasefire agreement on Friday, a day before the scheduled exchange of three more Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in the latest stage in a fragile deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

Hamas have so far freed 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails

It is believed that at least two of the six American hostages still held in Gaza are alive — Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and Edan Alexander, 19, from Tenafly, New Jersey. Four other Americans are believed to have been killed in captivity.

Strong negative responses to Trump's plan to transfer Palestinians from Gaza may provide Hamas an excuse not to release more hostages, Israeli officials fear.

In highly staged ceremonies, Hamas freed three people held captive over the last 15 months. Keeping to its part of the cease-fire deal, Israel released 183 Palestinians held in jails.

Even in war, branding applies. Israel and Hamas are engaged in a parallel battle of optics despite a ceasefire that took effect Jan. 19 after more than a year of devastating war.

An Israeli campaign group urged the government on Friday to stick with the Gaza truce ahead of a fifth hostage-prisoner swap, after explosive comments by US President Donald Trump raised questions over the future of the deal.