Three Israeli captives being released in Gaza in exchange for the freeing of 369 Palestinians by Israel

GAZA, Feb 15 (SABAH): Three Israeli captives – Alexander Trufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Yair Horn – are being released in Gaza in exchange for the freeing of 369 Palestinians by Israel.

Hamas said it expects indirect negotiations with Israel to start next week on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed 48,239 deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza while 111,676 people have been wounded. The Government Media Office has updated its death toll to at least 61,709 people, saying thousands missing under the rubble are now presumed dead.

At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.

Dozens of armed militants were deployed at the site of the release in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The three will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross which will then transport them to Israeli forces.

Hamas had earlier threatened not to release more hostages after it accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by blocking aid from entering Gaza, drawing counterthreats of a resumption of fighting from Israel, which called up reservists and placed its forces on high alert.

The emaciated appearance of three hostages released last week and accounts of abuse by other hostages released since January 19 when the ceasefire took effect has set off Israeli protests demanding that the government stick to the ceasefire and proceed with the next stage of the deal to bring all the hostages home.

In an apparent effort to head off some of the criticism of hostage mistreatment, Islamic Jihad, the militant group that is allied with Hamas and is holding Troufanov, released a video of him, showing him eating and fishing at the Gaza beach.

Prospects for the ceasefire surviving have also been clouded by U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Palestinians to be moved permanently out of Gaza, and for the enclave to be turned over to the United States to be redeveloped. That call was strongly rejected by Palestinian groups, Arab states and Western allies.

Hamas agreed last month to hand over 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children and sick, wounded and older men, in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, during a six-week truce during which Israeli forces would pull back from some of their positions in Gaza.

Before Saturday, 16 of the 33 Israeli hostages had been returned, along with five Thais who were handed over in an unscheduled release. That left 76 hostages still in Gaza, only around half of whom are thought to be alive.