Israel and Hamas completed the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Saturday with just over two weeks remaining in their fragile Gaza ceasefire's initial phase, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel to begin a Middle East tour.
The three hostages — Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 29 — seemed in better condition than the emaciated ones freed a week ago.
Troufanov was informed of his father's death in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the 16-month war. Chen was meeting his youngest daughter for the first time. Horn's brother, Eitan, remains in captivity.
Armed gunmen made the pale, worn men speak to a crowd before handing them over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Younis. The 369 Palestinian prisoners were later released.
A tense dispute had threatened to derail the ceasefire, but Hamas said Thursday it would move ahead with the planned exchange after it said mediators Egypt and Qatar pledged to "remove all hurdles" so Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into devastated Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove Gaza’s over 2 million Palestinians and settle them elsewhere in the region also shook the truce. Rubio will hear more about that, starting with his meeting Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump on Saturday posted on social media that "Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!"
Israel has not imposed such a deadline. Netanyahu’s office said he would convene the Cabinet as soon as possible to decide on next steps.
In the occupied West Bank, released prisoners were greeted by a cheering crowd. Some appeared gaunt, and the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said four were taken for treatment. Buses transported 333 others to Gaza.
The ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. Before Saturday, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners had been freed during the truce's first phase.
There have not been substantive negotiations over the ceasefire's second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages in return for ending the war.
The three hostages had been abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community hard-hit in the Oct. 7 attack. Horn was taken with his brother, who is not expected to be released in the ceasefire's first phase.
"Now, we can breathe a little. Our Iair is home after surviving hell in Gaza," his family said. "Now, we need to bring Eitan back so our family can truly breathe."
Chen's wife, Avital Dekel Chen, hid in a safe room with their daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later. She told Israeli media she was overwhelmed with happiness to see her husband back in Israel, where he was meeting his youngest daughter, Shachar.
Troufanov was taken hostage with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. His family said they were "overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude" Saturday.
Of the 251 people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack, 73 remain in Gaza, around half believed to be dead. Nearly all are men, including Israeli soldiers.
One hostage, 65-year-old Keith Siegel, said Friday in a video message addressed to Trump that his captors treated him worse as the war intensified, kicking him, spitting on him and holding him without water or light.
The released Palestinian prisoners included 36 serving life sentences for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. They include Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti. Twenty-four of those will be exiled abroad.
"When I saw my son, my soul came back to me again and I came back to life," said Om Bashar, mother of Hassan Aweis, sentenced to life in 2002 on charges of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive device and attempted murder.
Israel also committed to releasing over 1,000 detained from Gaza provided they did not participate in the Oct. 7 attack.
The Israeli Prison Service released the Palestinians in sweatshirts emblazoned with a Star of David and the phrase "Never forgive, never forget" in Arabic. Some threw their sweatshirts on the ground and burned them.
Truce remains fragile
Netanyahu’s far-right allies want the war to resume in early March with the goal of destroying Hamas. The group remains in control of the territory after one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
Hamas may be unwilling to release more hostages if it believes the war will resume.
Many Israelis want a deal to bring all remaining hostages home, fearing time is running out. They urge Netanyahu to send a senior-level delegation to talks on the ceasefire's second phase.
"Any other decision is sabotage that endangers the lives of the abductees," Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, told Saturday's rally in Tel Aviv.
A new challenge is Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, welcomed by Israel’s government. It has been rejected by Arab countries and Palestinians, who fear they won't be able to return. Human rights groups say the relocation could amount to a war crime.
Trump also proposed that once the war ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would redevelop it as the "Riviera of the Middle East."
At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have returned to their homes during the ceasefire, though many found only rubble, human remains and unexploded ordnance.
The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
