Israel receives three hostages after Hamas releases them to Red Cross in Gaza

Hamas-led militants have released three male Israeli hostages, parading them in front of a crowd in the southern Gaza Strip before handing them over to the Red Cross as part of a shaky ceasefire deal that requires Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

The Red Cross delivered the three – Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 – to the Israeli military, which said they were being taken for medical treatment and to be reunited with their relatives.

All were abducted in the October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

They appeared pale and worn, but seemed to be in better physical condition than the three men released last Saturday, who had emerged emaciated from 16 months of captivity.

A short time later, Israel began releasing dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel released more than 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including 36 serving life sentences over deadly attacks.

The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardised in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting.

US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to remove more than two million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire.

But Hamas said on Thursday it would move ahead with the release of more hostages after talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials.

The group said the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles” to ensure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza.

It will be the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on January 19. So far, 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners have been freed during the first phase of the truce.

Red Cross vehicles carrying the hostages left the area in the southern town of Khan Younis where the handover took place, and were headed to deliver the hostages to Israeli forces.

As with previous exchanges, the release was heavily choreographed, with the hostages made to walk onto a stage and make remarks into microphones before the crowd.

Dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters lined up near the stage festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions while music blared from loudspeakers.