 "Hamas parades 3 Israeli hostages ahead of their release; biggest captive exchange since Gaza ceasefire soon")
The largest prisoner-hostage exchange since the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect is set to happen soon.
The International Committee of the Red Cross was already on site in Khan Younis to facilitate the transfer of hostages and detainees on Saturday (February 15) around 10 am local time.
Hamas has paraded the three Israeli hostages publicly, and is to hand them over to the Red Cross, which will then transport them to Israeli forces.
The Israeli captives– 46-year-old Iair Horn, (Argentinian-Israeli), 36-year-old Sagui Dekel Chen (US-Israeli), and 29-year-old Alexander Troufanov (Russian-Israeli)– were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 attack last year that triggered the ongoing war.
As part of the deal, Hamas will release three Israeli captives, while Israel is expected to release 369 Palestinian detainees who have been held in Israeli prisons for an extended period.
Largest release of Palestinian detainees
The Palestinian detainees will be released across multiple locations. According to Al Jazeera, 333 of them would be returning to Gaza, 29 will be released in the occupied West Bank, and seven freed in occupied East Jerusalem.
An additional 24 will be exiled to Egypt immediately.
Among those set to be freed is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide to prominent Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti.
Only eight Palestinians will be received by crowds of family, friends, and supporters in the occupied West Bank.
The release is the sixth such swap under the current ceasefire, which began on January 19, bringing the total to 21 Israeli hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners exchanged so far. The release of the 369 prisoners would mark the largest number of release of Palestinians since the fragile Gaza ceasefire came into place.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOf the 251 people abducted, 73 remain in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.
With inputs from agencies
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