Israel and Hamas completed the sixth exchange of hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday with just over two weeks remaining in the initial phase of their fragile Gaza ceasefire.
Israelis expressed some relief as the three hostages — Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 29 — appeared to be in better condition than the emaciated hostages freed a week ago.
Before being reunited with family, Troufanov was informed of his father’s death in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the 16-month war. Chen prepared to meet his youngest daughter for the first time. Horn’s brother, Eitan, remains in captivity.
Armed, masked militants made the three pale, worn men walk onto a stage and speak to a crowd before handing them over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Younis. The 369 Palestinian prisoners were later released.
A tense dispute earlier in the week threatened to derail the ceasefire and renew the fighting in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the territory’s over 2 million Palestinians and settle them elsewhere in the region also shook the truce.
