Hamas frees 3 more hostages in exchange for more than 300 prisoners as part of ceasefire deal with Israel

February 15, 2025 MeighTimbol Israel, News Comments Off on Hamas frees 3 more hostages in exchange for more than 300 prisoners as part of ceasefire deal with Israel
Hamas has released Alexander (Sasha) Troponov, 29; Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36, and Iair Horn, 46. (Photos provided by The Hostages Family Forum)
FOX NEWS | Published February 15, 2025

The released hostages were Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Sasha Troufanov

Hamas released three more hostages on Saturday in exchange for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners as part of the delicate ceasefire agreement reached with Israel.

The hostages released were Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Iair Horn, 46. Troufanov has Israeli and Russian citizenship, Dekel-Chen is an American-Israeli and Horn is a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina.

The three were abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel that sparked the war in Gaza now under ceasefire.

Israeli authorities confirmed they received the three hostages on Saturday after Hamas released them to the Red Cross. They appeared pale and worn but appeared to be in better physical condition than the three men released a week ago.

The Red Cross transported the three hostages to Israeli forces.

The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency confirmed in a statement that the hostages had crossed into Israeli territory.

“A short while ago, accompanied by IDF and ISA forces, the returning hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the statement said. “The returning hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with members of their families.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reacted to the return of the hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on December 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“Today, three of our hostages have been returned to Israel: Yair Horn, Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov, and Sagui Dekel-Chen,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “We welcome them with a warm hug. We have prepared for their return and, together with their families, will support their recovery after the long and agonizing days in captivity.”

The Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails as part of the sensitive ceasefire agreement, which has continued to hold even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release all the remaining hostages this week. Trump has also said he is committed to the U.S. purchasing and taking over Gaza and resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Hamas also said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of violating their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble, but the hostages were released on time and the ceasefire remains in place. Israel said it would resume fighting if hostages were not freed.

Graffiti on Israel’s separation barrier depicts the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP)

“This week, Hamas once again attempted to violate the agreement and create a fabricated crisis with false claims,” Netanyahu’s office said. “Thanks to the deployment of our forces inside and around the Gaza Strip, and due to President Trump’s clear and unequivocal statement, Hamas backed down, and the hostage release continued. We are working in full coordination with the United States to rescue all our hostages—both the living and the dead—as quickly as possible, and we are fully prepared for what lies ahead, in every respect.”

About 70 hostages remain in Hamas custody. Nearly all the remaining hostages, including Israeli soldiers, are men and about half are believed to be dead.

In the first phase of the ceasefire, 24 hostages and more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have been released so far. The first phase includes Hamas’ release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The war could resume if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase, which calls for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the ceasefire. Hamas may be unwilling to free any more hostages if it believes the war will resume.

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SOURCE: www.foxnews.com

RELATED: Three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza, Israel releases 369 Palestinians in exchange


Russian-Israeli Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, speaks as he is released by Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal… Purchase Licensing Rights
REUTERS | Published February 15, 2025
CAIRO/JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Hamas released Israeli hostages Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel Chen and Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov in Gaza on Saturday and Israel freed some 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange, after mediators helped avert a collapse of the fragile ceasefire.
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The three Israelis were led onto a stage with Palestinian Hamas militants armed with automatic rifles standing on each side of them at the site in Khan Younis, live footage showed, before they were taken back into Israel by Israeli forces.

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Shortly afterwards, buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees departed Israel’s Ofer jail in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The first bus arrived in Ramallah to a cheering crowd, some waving Palestinian flags.
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“We didn’t expect to be freed, but God is great, God set us free,” said Musa Nawarwa, 70, from the West Bank town of Bethlehem, who was serving two life terms for killings of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

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Buses carrying some of the hundreds of Palestinian freed prisoners and detainees, some flashing victory signs as they hung from the windows, arrived later at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

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Some of the Palestinians were serving long prison terms for involvement in suicide bombings and other attacks that killed dozens of Israelis during the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. Others were jailed for killing Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

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Some, like Hassan Ewis, will be allowed to return to their homes. Others, such as his brother, are expected to be deported to Egypt.
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Ewis’ charge sheet in the Israeli Justice Ministry records include the planting of explosives and attempted murder and intentional homicide. He said prison conditions were difficult and Palestinians were deprived of sufficient food.
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Some of the Israeli hostages who have returned since January 19 have reported being deprived of food, held in tunnels for months and not seeing daylight, and being subjected to physical and psychological abuse.
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Hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel
A freed Palestinian prisoner holds a child after being released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 15, 2025. REUTERS/
Released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, embraces his wife as he is reunited with his family in Israel
Released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, embraces his wife as he is reunited with his family in Israel, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on February 15, 2025.
Hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel
A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 15, 2025…
The ceasefire’s second phase is meant to usher in negotiations to return the remaining living hostages among the 251 seized that day, and complete an Israeli military withdrawal before a final end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.
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Argentina-born Iair Horn, 46, was taken captive together with his younger brother Eitan. Horn appeared to have lost considerable weight in captivity.
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“Now, we can breathe a little. Our Iair is home after surviving hell in Gaza. Now, we need to bring Eitan back so our family can truly breathe,” Horn’s family said in a statement.
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The swap of the three Israelis for the 369 Palestinians allayed growing alarm that the ceasefire agreement could unravel before the end of the 42-day first stage of the truce pact in effect since January 19.
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In what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, people broke into cheers and tears after hearing the Red Cross was on its way to deliver the three to Israeli military forces.
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Dekel Chen, a U.S.-Israeli, Troufanov, a Russian Israeli, and Horn along with his brother Eitan were seized in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities near Gaza’s border that were overrun by Hamas gunmen on October 7, 2023.
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On the handover stage in Khan Younis, the hostages were made to give short statements in Hebrew and militants presented Horn with an hourglass and photo of another Israeli hostage still in Gaza and his mother, reading “time is running out (for the hostages still in Gaza)”.
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SOURCE: www.reuters.com