Hamas to hand over 3 Israeli hostages held prisoner for nearly 500 days after being kidnapped on Oct 7
HAMAS has released three more Israeli hostages in Gaza, in return for the expected release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Three men abducted on October 7 have safely been returned to the hands of the IDF.
The hostages released this morning are Alexander Troufanov, 29, Yair Horn, 46, and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36.
The men are all dual nationality: Alexander is a Russian-Israeli citizen, Yair is Argentine-Israeli and Sagui is an American-Israeli.
The three men were handed microphone and made to address the crowd that had gathered around the stage in Khan Younis.
Images showed Red Cross workers joining them on stage to sign the release papers.
Next to the stage was a giant poster depicting the final moments of Yahya Sinwar - the terrorist mastermind behind the October 7 attack.
The Red Cross cars then ferried the men out of Khan Younis, followed by a truck full of gun-wielding Hamas terrorists.
The IDF has now confirmed it has the hostages in its care.
Cheers rang out in Hostage Square in Televiv as live images showed the release unfolding.
This, the sixth round of Israeli hostage released in phase one of the peace deal, was thrown into doubt earlier this week.
The terrorist group claimed Israel had breached the terms of the peace deal - and said today's release would be delayed until the conditions were honoured.
However, after talks with mediators and strong words from the Israeli and American governments, the handover was re-confirmed.
Israel vowed to resume bombing in the strip if the hostages were not handed over, and President Trump said the peace deal would be called off.
There was delight this morning in the home towns of the three men, where friends and relatives have waited for almost 500 agonising days.
Yair’s brother, Eitan, is still being held in Gaza and is not chalked for release in phase one of the ceasefire deal.
Since the ceasefire began on January 19, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 766 prisoners.
In return for the three latest hostage releases. 369 Palestinian prisoners will freed from Israeli jails.
Of those, 36 have life sentences, and 333 were detained since October 7.
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