Hamas-led militants released three Israeli hostages in Gaza and Israel freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in return, completing the sixth exchange under a fragile ceasefire. The handover went ahead after a dispute had threatened to interrupt the agreement and restart fighting.
The freed hostages were Iair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli-Argentine citizen; Sagui Dekel Chen, a 36-year-old American-Israeli; and Alexander Troufanov, a 29-year-old Russian-Israeli. Armed members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad escorted the men at a public event in Khan Younis before transferring them to the International Committee of the Red Cross. They were then taken to Israel for medical assessments and reunions with relatives.
Israel began releasing the Palestinian group the same day. The 369 included 36 people serving life sentences in connection with deadly attacks, according to the Associated Press. Al Jazeera reported that most of the total had been held without charges or convictions after being detained in Gaza. Buses carried released Palestinians toward Gaza and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, while some were due to travel through Egypt before resettlement elsewhere.
Crowds met the buses and gathered around the handover sites. At least four released Palestinians were taken directly for hospital treatment. Among the best-known was Ahmed Barghouti, described as a close aide to Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti. The group also included elderly detainees.
In Tel Aviv, people assembled at Hostages Square to watch the release on live screens. The handover brought the number of captives released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad since the ceasefire began on January 19 to 25, according to Al Jazeera. The exchange was both a humanitarian moment for families and a carefully staged demonstration by the armed groups controlling the Gaza event.
Hamas said the release showed that negotiations and compliance with the ceasefire were the route to freeing the remaining hostages. The agreement's stability had been in doubt during the preceding days, and the first phase had only about two weeks left. That timetable focused attention on the more difficult negotiations over what would follow.
The completion of the exchange did not resolve the central disputes. Hostages remained in Gaza, Palestinians remained in Israeli custody, and the parties had not secured a durable settlement for the war. Still, carrying out the agreed swap after a period of acute tension prevented an immediate rupture and kept the ceasefire process moving through its first stage. Its durability would depend on further releases, continued aid and agreement on the transition beyond phase one, questions that had not been settled by the day's handovers.
