 "Hamas frees 3 Israeli hostages in exchange of Palestinian prisoners")
Hamas on Saturday released three more Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners in the latest swap under the ongoing ‘fragile’ truce deal, news agency AFP reported.
The hostages were handed over to the Red Cross after being paraded before a large crowd in the Gaza Strip.
The three hostages are now in the custody of Israeli forces inside the Palestinian territory, the IDF said.
Paraded in Khan Yunis before release
Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn were paraded on a stage in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis. The hostages were also told to address the crowd before their handover to the Red Cross.
Dozens of Hamas fighters lined up around the stage bearing the logo of the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, as Palestinian nationalist music played.
Sources from the Palestinian armed group said they had deployed about 200 militants for the handover ceremony.
Ceasefire was on the brink of collapse
This is the sixth release since the truce took effect on 19 January. The development came after fears that the deal between Israel and Hamas was near collapse last week. But on Friday, both sides signalled that Saturday’s swap would go ahead.
After the deal had appeared to be on the brink of collapse, a Hamas official on Friday said the group expected talks on a second phase of the ceasefire to begin early next week.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOctober 7 attack
The three hostages had been in the captivity of the Palestinian armed group since 7 October 2023.
Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the abduction of at least 240 individuals. Armed fighters from the group entered the southern part of Israel and killed civilians indiscriminately.
This led Israel to launch its military campaign in Gaza.
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