Palestinian militants released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian inmates freed by Israel, completing the latest swap despite fears the Gaza truce deal was near collapse.
An AFP journalist saw masked Hamas gunmen parade the hostages onto a stage in front of a crowd in Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis, where they were made to make statements into a microphone before being handed over to the Red Cross and taken back to Israeli territory.
The three hostages -- Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn -- had been held by Gaza militants since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war 16 months ago. Friends and family members of the hostages shed tears of joy at the sight of their loved ones on Saturday.
Later in the day, hundreds of Palestinians freed by Israel reached Khan Yunis, where they threw up victory signs and waved to a jubilant crowd, an AFP reporter said. After the deal had appeared to be on the brink of collapse, a Hamas official on Friday said the group expected talks on a second phase of the ceasefire to begin early next week. Another source familiar with the talks offered a similar timeline.
A crowd gathered in Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv to watch a live feed of the exchange, with many carrying Israeli flags and posters with messages including"Sorry and welcome back" and"Complete the ceasefire". The ceasefire has been under massive strain since US President Donald Trump proposed a takeover of the Gaza Strip under which the territory's population of more than two million people would be moved to Egypt or Jordan. Arab countries have come together to reject Trump's plan, and Saudi Arabia will host the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday for a summit on the issue.
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