Hamas on Thursday recommitted to the ceasefire with Israel and said it would free another three hostages as planned on Saturday, easing concerns that the truce was close to collapse.

The ceasefire, which was signed a day before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, was threatened to unravel earlier this week, after both sides accused the other of violating the terms of the truce.

Then Hamas announced that it would delay the release of the next batch of hostages. This sparked reactions in Israel and in the U.S. and rekindled concerns that the truce may not hold.

But on Thursday, Hamas said that it would release the next three hostages as planned this coming Saturday.

The group supported by Iran said that it didn’t want to see the ceasefire collapse, but criticized what it described as “language of threats and intimidation.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump earlier this week said the truce should be voided if Hamas fails to stick to the schedule of releasing hostages.

“Accordingly, Hamas reaffirms its commitment to implementing the agreement as signed, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified timeline,” Hamas said in a statement carried by Reuters.

The de-escalation of the tension in the Middle East added to the increased chances of a peace deal in Ukraine to depress oil prices early on Thursday.

President Trump said on Wednesday that the presidents of both Russia and Ukraine had separately expressed a willingness to reach a peace deal.

President Trump said, after talking with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for over an hour that “He wants it to end. He doesn’t want to end it and then go back to fighting six months later.” The U.S. president added “I think we’re on the way to getting peace. I think President Putin wants peace, President Zelenskiy wants peace and I want peace. I just want to see people stop getting killed,” as quoted by Reuters.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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