Three Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees freed after dispute threatened Gaza ceasefire | CNN
Updated 9:48 AM EST, Sun February 16, 2025
Three Israeli hostages have been freed from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas after a dispute this week threatened to derail the deal.
The hostages - American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexandre Troufanov and Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn - were released in Khan Younis, southern Gaza in the sixth such exchange under the truce. They were seen exiting vehicles surrounded by militants, who ushered the hostages on stage, where the captives addressed the crowd.
The men appeared to be in better health than the three hostages released the previous week, whose condition drew condemnation from Israeli officials.
The three were given what appeared to be bags carrying memorabilia. Horn was seen carrying what appeared to be small hourglasses and Troufanov appeared to face some difficulty climbing down the stairs.Following his return Dekel-Chen was seen walking through Sheba Medical Center in Israel with his wife Avital on Saturday to meet his sisters, Ofir and Dotan, in footage released by the Israeli government.
“There’s no place like home,” Dekel-Chen can be heard telling medical staffA crowd of armed militants gathered in Gaza ahead of the hostage release, which took place close to the house of slain former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by Israel in October. Images showed masked fighters carrying weapons and gathering around a stage with flags and images depicting Sinwar and other militant leaders.
“No migration except to Jerusalem,” read a banner festooning the stage, in an apparent rebuke to US President Donald Trump and his plans for a mass displacement of Palestinians from the enclave.
Soon after, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service said 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released on Saturday, the largest number yet under the truce.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that 333 Palestinians arrested in Gaza after the October 7 attack had arrived in the enclave Saturday.
Buses carrying the detainees entered Gaza from Kerem Shalom into Rafah, and headed to a hospital in Khan Younis where large crowds were waiting. Elsewhere, 36 Palestinians were released to the occupied West Bank, including 24 who were later exiled to Egypt.
Some of the released Palestinian prisoners and detainees were ordered to wear clothes provided by the Israeli Prison Service with the quote “We will not forget, and we will not forgive” inscribed next to a Star of David. The move infuriated Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who called it a “flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian laws.”