Israeli hostages Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Alexandre Troufanov are escorted by Hamas militants as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis on Saturday.
Israeli hostages Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Alexandre Troufanov are escorted by militants as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis on Saturday.
Three Israeli hostages are back on home soil after being freed from Gaza Saturday by Palestinian militants, in the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal that came into effect last month.
American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexandre Troufanov and Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn were released in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, around 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). They were seen exiting vehicles surrounded by militants, who ushered the hostages on stage, where the captives addressed the crowd.
The men appeared to be in better health than the three hostages released the previous week, whose condition drew condemnation from Israeli officials.
The three were given what appeared to be bags carrying memorabilia. Horn was seen carrying what appeared to be small hourglasses and Troufanov appeared to face some difficulty climbing down the stairs.
In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, the atmosphere was expectant and calm as people holding posters watched the releases live. In Kibbutz Nir Oz, where all the three hostages were taken, families gathered to watch the release. Sagui-Dekel Hen’s family crowded around the television to watch the moment.
Israel is expected to release 369 Palestinian prisoners later Saturday, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said Friday, 333 of whom were arrested in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. It will be the largest number of Palestinian prisoners released during the exchanges so far.
A crowd of armed militants gathered in Gaza ahead of the release, which took place close to the house of slain former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by Israel in October. Images showed masked fighters carrying weapons and gathering around a stage with flags and images depicting Sinwar and other militant leaders.
Source: CNN