KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and Hamas accomplished the sixth change of hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Saturday with simply over two weeks remaining of their fragile Gaza ceasefire’s preliminary section, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel to start a Mideast tour.
Israelis expressed aid because the three hostages – Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 29 – appeared in higher situation than the emaciated ones freed every week in the past.
Troufanov was knowledgeable of his father’s dying within the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, assault that sparked the 16-month conflict. Chen was assembly his youngest daughter for the primary time. Horn’s brother, Eitan, stays in captivity.
Armed militants made the pale, worn males communicate to a crowd earlier than handing them over to the Pink Cross within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis. The 369 Palestinian prisoners have been later launched.
A tense dispute had threatened to derail the ceasefire, however Hamas mentioned Thursday it could transfer forward with the deliberate change after it mentioned mediators Egypt and Qatar pledged to “take away all hurdles” so Israel would enable extra tents, medical provides and different necessities into devastated Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to take away Gaza’s over 2 million Palestinians and settle them elsewhere within the area additionally shook the truce. Rubio will hear extra about that, beginning along with his assembly Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump on Saturday posted on social media that “Israel will now should resolve what they’ll do in regards to the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the discharge of ALL HOSTAGES. America will again the choice they make!”
Israel has not imposed such a deadline. Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned he would convene the Cupboard as quickly as potential to resolve on subsequent steps.
Within the occupied West Financial institution, launched prisoners have been greeted by a cheering crowd. Some appeared gaunt, and the Palestinian Pink Crescent emergency service mentioned 4 have been taken for remedy. Buses transported 333 others to Gaza.
The ceasefire took impact on Jan. 19. Earlier than Saturday, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners had been freed in the course of the truce’s first section.
There haven’t been substantive negotiations over the ceasefire’s second section, during which Hamas would launch all remaining hostages in return for ending the conflict.
The three hostages had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a group hard-hit within the Oct. 7 assault. Horn was taken along with his brother, who just isn’t anticipated to be launched within the ceasefire’s first section.
“Now, we will breathe just a little. Our Iair is dwelling after surviving hell in Gaza,” his household mentioned. “Now, we have to deliver Eitan again so our household can really breathe.”
Chen’s spouse, Avital Dekel Chen, hid in a secure room with their daughters. She gave start to their third daughter two months later. She instructed Israeli media she was overwhelmed with happiness to see her husband again in Israel, the place he was assembly his youngest daughter, Shachar.
Troufanov was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mom and girlfriend. The ladies have been launched throughout a short ceasefire in November 2023. His household mentioned they have been “overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude” Saturday.
Of the 251 individuals kidnapped in the course of the Oct. 7 assault, 73 stay in Gaza, round half believed to be lifeless. Almost all are males, together with Israeli troopers.
One hostage, 65-year-old Keith Siegel, mentioned Friday in a video message addressed to Trump that his captors handled him worse because the conflict intensified, kicking him, spitting on him and holding him with out water or mild.
The launched Palestinian prisoners included 36 serving life sentences for involvement in lethal assaults towards Israelis. They embrace Ahmed Barghouti, 48, an in depth aide of militant chief and iconic Palestinian political determine Marwan Barghouti. Twenty-four of these will likely be exiled overseas.
“Once I noticed my son, my soul got here again to me once more and I got here again to life,” mentioned Om Bashar, mom of Hassan Aweis, sentenced to life in 2002 on prices of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive machine and tried homicide.
Israel additionally dedicated to releasing over 1,000 detained from Gaza offered they didn’t take part within the Oct. 7 assault.
The Israeli Jail Service launched the Palestinians in sweatshirts emblazoned with a Star of David and the phrase “By no means forgive, always remember” in Arabic. Some threw their sweatshirts on the bottom and burned them.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies need the conflict to renew in early March with the objective of destroying Hamas. The militant group stays accountable for the territory after one of many deadliest and most damaging navy campaigns in current historical past.
Hamas could also be unwilling to launch extra hostages if it believes the conflict will resume.
Many Israelis need a deal to deliver all remaining hostages dwelling, fearing time is working out. They urge Netanyahu to ship a senior-level delegation to talks on the ceasefire’s second section. “Some other determination is sabotage that endangers the lives of the abductees,” Einav Zangauker, mom of hostage Matan Zangauker, instructed Saturday’s rally in Tel Aviv.
A brand new problem is Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, welcomed by Israel’s authorities. It has been rejected by Arab nations and Palestinians, who concern they gained’t be capable to return. Human rights teams say the relocation may quantity to a conflict crime.
Trump additionally proposed that when the conflict ends, Israel would switch management of Gaza to america, which might redevelop it because the “Riviera of the Center East.”
At its peak, the conflict displaced 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants of two.3 million. Tons of of hundreds have returned to their houses in the course of the ceasefire, although many discovered solely rubble, human stays and unexploded ordnance.
The conflict has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, largely ladies and youngsters, in line with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of have been fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, with out offering proof.
