Hamas parades, hands over 3 more hostages to Red Cross in Gaza: Israel military

Gaza: Militant group Hamas on Saturday handed over three more hostages to the Red Cross after parading them in front of a large crowd in Gaza, the Israeli military said. The hostages are 46-year-old Iair Horn, 36-year-old Sagui Dekel and 29-year-old Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov.

Horn has a dual citizenship of Israel and Argentina, Dekel is an American-Israeli and Troufanov holds Israeli and Russian citizenship. All three of them were abducted on October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel and marked the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Red Cross vehicles arrived at the location where Hamas was set to release the hostages Saturday morning. As with previous exchanges, dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters lined up near a stage festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions while music blared from loudspeakers.

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

The hostages are being released as part of a ceasefire signed between Hamas and Israel that requires the latter to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return. The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardised in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting.

The Hamas-linked Prisoners’ Information Office said Friday that 369 Palestinians were set to be released from Israeli prisons on Saturday. It said 36 of those were serving life sentences.

Among the most prominent Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure.