Three Israeli Male Hostages Released
To Be Transferred to Hospital by Helicopter
Israel to Release 369 Palestinian Prisoners
Palestinian armed group Hamas released three male hostages on the 5th (local time). This marks the sixth hostage release under the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
According to Al Jazeera and other sources, Hamas handed over three Israeli men?Sasha Aleksandr Trupanov (29), Sagi Dekelchen (36), and Yair Horn (46)?to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on the morning of the 498th day since the outbreak of the conflict.
Before boarding the Red Cross vehicle, the hostages went up on a stage set up at the site, took commemorative photos, expressed their gratitude, and urged the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, banners opposing U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, which calls for forcibly relocating Palestinian residents of Gaza to neighboring Arab countries, were installed around the stage.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an armed group affiliated with Hamas, previously released a video showing Trupanov receiving the document confirming his release.
The hostages will soon be handed over to the Israeli military, undergo a brief health check at a location near the border, and then be transported by helicopter to hospitals within Israel.
Trupanov, a Russian dual national who worked for an Israeli IT company, was abducted on October 7, 2023, during Hamas's surprise attack at the Nir Oz kibbutz (collective farm) in southern Israel.
At that time, Trupanov’s grandmother Irena Tatty, mother Yelena Trupanova, and girlfriend Sapir Cohen, who were also taken to Gaza, were released during a week-long ceasefire about a month after the war began.
American dual national Dekelchen was captured on the day of the Hamas attack while fighting Hamas militants alongside other residents at Nir Oz kibbutz. Horn, born to Jewish parents from Argentina, was abducted from his home in Nir Oz.
In exchange for the release of the three hostages, Israel will release 369 Palestinian prisoners on the same day. Among them, 36 are serving life sentences.
According to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on the 19th of last month, Hamas is to release a total of 33 hostages during the first phase of the six-week (42-day) ceasefire, while Israel must release 1,904 Palestinian prisoners. Previously, 21 hostages and over 730 prisoners were released in five separate rounds.
On the 10th, Hamas suddenly claimed that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement and announced an indefinite postponement of the scheduled hostage release that day. In response, Israel and the United States warned that they would resume fighting if the hostages were not released. However, mediators such as Egypt and Qatar intervened, guaranteeing the entry of relief supplies into Gaza, which ultimately led to the exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Hamas, which launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people and took 251 to Gaza. The Israeli military estimated that 94 hostages remained in Gaza until just before the ceasefire, of whom 34 were confirmed dead.
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