KHAN YUNIS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES:
Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel, successfully completing the latest hostage-prisoner exchange despite rising tensions over the fragile ceasefire.
An AFP journalist witnessed masked Hamas fighters escorting the hostages onto a stage before a crowd in Khan Yunis, located in southern Gaza.
The freed hostages—Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn—were given the opportunity to speak before being handed over to the Red Cross for transport back to Israel. They had been held captive for more than 16 months.
Carrying bags provided by their captors, the three men urged for continued exchanges under the ongoing ceasefire agreement.
Shortly after, a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners departed from Israel’s Ofer Prison, arriving to a jubilant crowd in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Additional inmates were also released from a detention facility in the Negev desert and transported to Gaza.
This marked the sixth exchange since the truce began on January 19. The process had faced potential disruption after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, while Israel had threatened to resume military operations if hostage releases were halted.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 70 remain in Gaza, with 35 confirmed dead, according to the Israeli military.
The latest exchange brought emotional reunions for families and friends of those released.
“Sasha can finally be with his loved ones and start a new chapter,” Trupanov’s family stated.
Meanwhile, Dekel-Chen’s wife, Avital, expressed her relief in a call broadcast by Israel’s Kan news channel: “I can finally breathe again. He looks so handsome.”
Upon his return, Dekel-Chen also learned the name of his youngest daughter, who was born two months after his capture.
