KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories: Gaza militants handed three Israeli hostages over to the Purple Cross on Saturday (Feb 15) in an change that can also be set to see the discharge of 369 Palestinians from Israeli custody, the latest such swap under an ongoing truce deal.
An AFP journalist noticed masked Hamas militants parade the hostages onto a stage in Gaza’s southern metropolis of Khan Yunis, the place they had been advised to deal with the gang earlier than their handover to the Purple Cross.
Clutching present luggage given by their captors and a certificates to mark the tip of their captivity, the three males, flanked by fighters, referred to as for the completion of additional hostage exchanges beneath the ceasefire deal.
The discharge, the sixth for the reason that truce took impact on Jan 19, got here after fears final week that the deal between Israel and Hamas was close to collapse. However on Friday each side signalled that Saturday’s swap would go forward.
Dozens of Hamas fighters lined up across the stage bearing the emblem of the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, as Palestinian nationalist music performed.
Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad mentioned the teams had deployed about 200 militants for the handover ceremony.
A crowd additionally gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Sq.” to observe the change, with many carrying Israeli flags and posters in assist of the captives.
The workplace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had named the hostages as Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn.
They’d been held by Gaza militants since Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, assault on Israel that sparked the conflict 16 months in the past.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Membership advocacy group mentioned Israel was to launch 369 inmates in change, with 24 of them anticipated to be deported.
Virtually all the relaxation are “prisoners from the Gaza Strip who had been arrested after Oct 7”, the group mentioned.
After the deal had gave the impression to be on the point of collapse, a Hamas official on Friday mentioned the group anticipated talks on a second section of the ceasefire to start early subsequent week.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose nation is Israel’s high backer and one of many truce mediators, is because of arrive in Israel late Saturday forward of anticipated talks with Netanyahu on the Gaza truce.
Final week’s launch sparked anger in Israel and past after the freed hostages had been paraded onstage, with their emaciated state sparking concern over conditions in captivity.
Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel, launched in a earlier change, mentioned he was “starved and … tortured, each bodily and emotionally” throughout his captivity.
There have been additionally fears for Palestinians in Israeli custody after some prisoners required medical therapy following their launch within the final swap.
