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by IANS |
Jerusalem, Feb 15 (IANS) Three Israeli hostages previously held by the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad were transferred to Israeli authorities and crossed the border into Israel on Saturday as part of an ongoing ceasefire exchange, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced.
The freed 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-Argentine citizen -- were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Troufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother, and partner, and the three women were released in a previous hostage deal in November 2023. His father was killed on the day of the kidnapping.
Dekel-Chen, a father of three, had a daughter born after his abduction. Horn's brother, Eitan, remains in captivity in Gaza.
"Thanks to the concentration of our forces in and around the Gaza Strip, and thanks to the clear and unequivocal statement of U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas has withdrawn and the release of the hostages continues," said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump warned on Monday that if "all of the hostages" in Gaza were not freed by noon on Saturday, the truce would be called off, and he would "let hell break out."
Hamas had initially intended to delay the scheduled hostage release, citing Israeli violations of the agreement, Xinhua news agency reported. However, by Thursday, the group confirmed it would proceed with the swap of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
The three were the sixth group of hostages freed as part of a swap deal between Palestinian militants and Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, with Israel expected to begin releasing 369 Palestinian prisoners later on Saturday.
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