Hamas and Islamic Jihad release three more male hostages from Gaza

Three more Israeli men have been freed by Gazan terror groups on Saturday, after 498 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, after cancelling the hostage release earlier this week, Hamas announced that they were releasing three men back to Israel. 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office published the names of Russian-Israeli Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, 29; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; and Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn, 46.

The hostages were handed over to representatives of the Red Cross at a staged event in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, shortly after 10 a.m, and to the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) at approximately 10:30, and were being escorted to Israeli territory for an initial medical examination.

The Prime Minister’s Office added that the names were being shared with the consent of their families.

The Hamas official confirmed to Reuters that Dekel-Chen was among those set to be freed. Separately, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group said it would release Troufanov as part of the arrangement.

Hamas terrorists escort Israeli-Argentinian hostage Yair Horn (Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Israel is expected to release 36 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday who are serving life sentences and 333 terrorism suspects arrested in the Gaza Strip after October 7, according to figures from the Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry.

People gathered at Tel Aviv's "Hostages Square" (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Israel has stated it will resume combat in Gaza if three hostages are not freed on time after Hamas announced it was delaying the releases in response to alleged Israeli ceasefire violations.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the ceasefire to be abandoned if Hamas did not release all hostages held in Gaza by noon Saturday.

Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released in exchange for 566 Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons. This will be the sixth round of hostage releases.

During the first six weeks of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages are set to be freed in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian terrorists held in Israel. Hamas says eight on the list are dead.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Seventy-six hostages remain in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped on Oct. 7.