The group confirmed on Thursday that it will proceed with the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages. The released hostages, Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, a 29-year-old Israeli-Russian citizen; Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old Israeli-American citizen; and Iair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli-Argentinian citizen, were kidnapped in an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Troufanov was abducted along with his mother, grandmother, and partner, women who were released in a previous hostage agreement in November 2023. Three Israeli hostages held by Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad were transferred to their country's authorities and crossed the border this Saturday as part of an exchange under the ongoing ceasefire, announced the Israel Defense Forces.
"Thanks to the concentration of our forces in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings, and thanks to the clear and unequivocal statement from U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas has retreated and the release of hostages continues," said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The brother of the Argentinian Horn, Eitan, remains captive in Gaza. His father was killed on the day of the kidnapping.
Dekel-Chen, a father of three, had a daughter born after his abduction. The three recently released were the sixth group of hostages freed as part of an exchange agreement between Palestinian militants and Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, reported the Xinhua news agency.
