Hamas members released on Saturday (15), Yair Horn, Sasha Trupanov and Sagui Dekel Chen, three Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023. In turn, Israel will free 369 Palestinian prisoners, thus marking the sixth exchange since the cease -Fogo, who came into force on January 19. The release of the Palestinians represents the largest number of prisoners released during the hostages so far.
The liberation of the Israelis occurred in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern range of Gaza, around 10am local time (5 am in Brasília time). The show armed by the terrorist group featured a parade of weapons, followed by the public presentation of the former sequesters. Then the trio spoke on a stage and went to the vehicles of the Red Cross, where tests were performed before being taken to their families.
Dekel Chen is American-Israeli, Alexandre Troufanov, Russian-Israeli and Iair Horn, Argentine-Israeli. All were kidnapped in the October 7 attacks at Kibutz Nir Oz and remained for 498 days in the Gaza Strip.
Agreement had been put in check
The exchange that occurred at dawn had been put in check by Hamas, after the group stated last Monday (10), that would postpone the exchange of hostages due to the alleged “violations” of the terms of the ceasefire agreement by Israel .
After the group’s statement, US President Donald Trump recommended that Israel interrupt the ceasefire with Hamas. “If all Gaza hostages are not returned until Saturday at noon, I would say to cancel the ceasefire. That hell spreads, “said the Republican, according to Reuters agency.
Hamas confirmation that the agreement would follow normally last Thursday (13), after an ultimatum by the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
So far, 19 of the 33 Israelis (or double citizenship) hostages have been released, added to five Thai. This Saturday’s exchange marked another stage of the first phase of the ceasefire, which runs until the first day of March. Both Israel and Hamas claim to be prepared for the beginning of the second phase.