Hamas has released three more Israeli captives in Gaza as part of the sixth exchange under a fragile ceasefire, following tense negotiations.

The freed captives—American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexander Sasha Trufanov, and Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn—were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Saturday.

All three had been taken during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel. They carried certificates of release and maps of Palestine before being transported to Israel for medical checks and reunions with their families.

With this latest release, a total of 25 captives have been freed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad since the ceasefire began on January 19. The exchange took place under the watch of dozens of armed fighters from both groups.

Hundreds of civilians, including women, children and the elderly, gathered behind the security cordon trying to witness the release.

Al Jazeera’s Tarek Abu Azzoum, reporting from the site in Khan Younis, described preparations for the release as “highly coordinated” and “marked by a strict security protocol and symbolic display of power”.

Source: Al Jazeera 

BDST: 1511 HRS, FEB 15, 2025
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