March 27, 2025
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and the terror group 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 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel to begin a Mideast tour.
Israelis expressed relief as 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, terror 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 terrorists 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.
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.
The three hostages had been abducted by terrorists 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, and around half are 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. Twenty-four of those will be exiled abroad.
Israel also committed to releasing over 1,000 detained from Gaza provided they did not participate in the Oct. 7 terror attack.
