Hamas freed three extra Israeli hostages on Saturday in a ceremony marked by a number of the identical provocative theatrics utilized by the Palestinian militants in earlier releases.
It was the sixth spherical of a tense sequence of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges which might be a part of a 42-day cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas that went into impact final month. Hamas agreed to incrementally launch 33 of the almost 100 individuals who had been taken in October 2023 and have nonetheless not been accounted for. In trade, Israel is to free greater than 1,000 Palestinians held in its jails and partially withdraw from Gaza.
Right here’s a better have a look at the three civilian male hostages, together with an Israeli American, who had been launched on Saturday:
Sagui Dekel-Chen
Mr. Dekel-Chen, an Israeli American who had performed for Israel’s nationwide basketball staff, was 35 when he was taken from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza border the place militants kidnapped greater than 70 individuals within the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023.
He’s a father of three, and his youngest youngster was born throughout his captivity. Mr. Dekel-Chen labored as nationwide coordinator for the British department of the Jewish Nationwide Fund and along with his spouse, he transformed buses for brand new makes use of, similar to for cell school rooms.
Mr. Dekel-Chen’s household was very lively in advocating a cease-fire deal. His father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a historical past professor at Hebrew College in Jerusalem, wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times essential of the Israeli authorities for not bringing dwelling the hostages.
In August, he advised the Occasions that he and different members of the Nir Oz kibbutz wouldn’t participate in an official government ceremony then being deliberate to commemorate the Oct. 7 assault. He stated they had been “appalled by the thought of this authorities making a ceremony that will distract from their culpability.”
The hostage’s mom, Neomit Dekel-Chen, and a few neighbors had been additionally captured within the Oct. 7 assault. She escaped from an electrical cart that was heading towards Gaza when an Israeli navy helicopter shot on the militants, based on an account she gave to Israeli information media.
Mr. Horn was 45 when he was kidnapped from Nir Oz together with one among his two brothers, Eitan, who was visiting for the weekend. Iair labored in building and Eitan labored as a trainer.
Mr. Horn was born in Israel and raised in Argentina. He returned to Israel as an grownup alongside along with his dad and mom and siblings, based on their mom, Ruth Strom. They’re half of a giant Argentine community on the kibbutz, together with different households awaiting the return of hostages.
Eitan Horn has not been slated for launch within the first part of the deal, and Ms. Strom has stated that she was anxious that Iair would have to leave his brother behind.
Their father, Itzik Horn, stated in December 2023, after the Israeli navy mistakenly shot and killed three hostages who had fled their captors in Gaza, that Israel should attain a deal even when it means liberating prisoners designated as terrorists.
“A very powerful factor isn’t to defeat Hamas,” he said in an interview. “The one victory right here is to carry again all of the hostages.”
Mr. Troufanov, a Russian Israeli twin citizen who was 27 when he was captured, was visiting household in Nir Oz on Oct. 7. His father was killed, and his mom, grandmother and girlfriend had been taken hostage however released during the cease-fire in November 2023.
Mr. Troufanov, who lived along with his girlfriend in a Tel Aviv suburb and labored at a company owned by Amazon, was seen in a video launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad — the second strongest militant group in Gaza after Hamas — in November of final 12 months. He appeared weary, with an untrimmed beard and luggage below his eyes, and spoke of an absence of meals and water.
In October, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, told Russia Today that he had spoken to Islamic Jihad about Mr. Troufanov and that Hamas would give precedence to him in any trade of hostages and Palestinian prisoners “in honor” of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
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