Israel-Hamas ceasefire live updates: 3 hostages set free in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians

Participants in Israeli watch parties reacted as three more hostages were released by Hamas, including an American Israeli, Sagui Dekel-Chen.

The three returning hostages have arrived at hospitals in Israel where they will receive medical treatment and be reunited with their families.

Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Sagui Dekel-Chen arrived earlier at Sheba hospital by helicopter, shortly before Iair Horn landed at Ichilov hospital.

Images and video released by the IDF showed Iair Horn — wearing a Hapoel Be'er Sheva soccer shirt and scarf — sharing tearful embraces with members of his family, also dressed in soccer regalia.

Palestinian prisoners and detainees released today have been set free wearing t-shirts bearing the Star of David, a symbol of Jewish identity, alongside the slogan “We do not forget, nor do we forgive.”

Israeli outlet Ynetnews published images showing 10 men on their knees wearing the shirts while facing away from the camera. A spokesperson for Israel’s prison office confirmed that Palestinians were given the t-shirts to wear upon their release.

A video from the Palestinian Prisoners' Office taken in the Gaza Strip after the men were released showed people throwing the t-shirts to the floor and setting them on fire.

The militant group Islamic Jihad called the t-shirts a violation of international humanitarian laws. 

The daughter of one of the hostages still trapped in Gaza said it is “incredible” to see each of freed hostages return to Israel, but feared for her elderly father's life.

Sharone Lifschitz’s father, Oded, a human rights and peace activist, was taken from kibbutz Niz Or with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, who was freed in October 2023, after 17 days in Hamas captivity.

His name is on the list of the hostages set to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire, but each release goes by Sharone knows that...

“My father is 84 and frail, and the fact that he’s not being returned to us increases the chances that he’s no longer with us,” she told NBC News. “We know his chances are slim."

Surrounded by masked fighters each holding a rifle, the three Israeli hostages freed today spoke on stage in the Gaza Strip before being transferred into the custody of the Red Cross, as had happened during last week’s release.

During a brief choreographed appearance surrounded by armed and masked fighters, the trio expressed relief, hope and happiness while urging continued efforts to bring all captives home. Sagui Dekel-Chen called on leaders to honor the ceasefire agreement for the benefit of millions of Israelis. Iair Horn said he was leaving his brother behind in captivity, and said time was running out for the remaining hostages. 

Israel president Isaac Herzog again condemned the “disgusting and cynical ceremony” by which Hamas released the hostages. 

The messages were delivered under the watchful eye of armed men, but appeared measured and the men in apparent good health. Today stood in stark contrast to last week’s on-stage hostage appearances, which sparked anger and condemnation as observers questioned the genuineness of the statements critical of the Israeli government.

And unlike last week's returning hostages who were malnourished and emaciated upon their release, the three hostages set free today also appeared relatively healthy although pale.

About 73 hostages now remain in Gaza, 35 of whom are presumed dead, according to Israeli authorities.

The Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, saw over 250 people abducted, while three of the hostages still in Gaza were taken before the attack.

During a weeklong truce in November 2023, 105 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. So far, 19 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been freed in the first, 42-day phase of the agreement.

President Donald Trump said the three hostages released “seem to be in good shape” and added that the United States will support whatever decision Israel makes regarding the continuation of the ceasefire.

Trump had warned last week that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas did not release “all” the remaining hostages today, after said it would not release the captives as agreed because of what it said were Israeli ceasefire violations.

The fragile ceasefire held after Hamas said it would free hostages today.

“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,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The United States will back the decision they make!”

Israeli officials did not immediately respond to Trump's statement.

Footage released by the IDF has captured the heartwarming moment that Sagui Dekel-Chen was reunited with his wife and parents at a reception point in southern Israel shortly after his release.

Dekel-Chen sags and smiles and his wife lets out a cry and throws her arms around her husband as the two see each other for the first time in 16 months. As the pair embrace, he kisses her cheek and she cries into his shoulder.

Sagui then hugs his mother Naomit and father Yonatan, who says "welcome back" before holding his son.

Buses carrying Palestinian detainees and prisoners from Israeli have arrived at the European Hospital in Gaza, east of Khan Younis.

Crowds gathered and held their phones above their heads, cheering and whistling as the buses passed through. Some of the prisoners leaned out of the windows, waving and posing for photos on their way.

The Israeli prison service says it released 369 prisoners today as part of the ceasefire deal that saw three hostages freed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad earlier today.

More than 300 of those prisoners are expected to be released in Gaza.

Israeli Air Force helicopters are taking returning hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn to hospital, according to the IDF.

The trio are being transported alongside members of their family, it said, adding that they will be reunited with other loved ones at hospital where they will also receive medical treatment.

Dekel-Chen and Troufanov are set to be taken to Sheba Hospital, with Horn expected at Ichilov Hospital.

Another 25 bodies have been recovered and taken to hospitals in Gaza in the last 48 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said today, raising the overall death toll for the conflict to 48,264.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” it said.

Returning hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen has been reunited with his wife at a reception point in southern Israel, following his release by Hamas in the Gaza Strip earlier today.

A picture circulating on Israeli media shows Avital sitting on Sagui's lap as the pair hold hands while smiling at one another.

Avital was eight months pregnant when Sagui was taken hostage on Oct. 7 2023, and he is yet to meet his third daughter Sachar.

All three returning hostages have arrived at the initial reception point in southern Israel, the country's military said earlier, where they will be reunited with members of their families and undergo an initial medical assessment.

Four of the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel today have been taken to hospitatl due to their “critical health condition,” according to the Red Crescent.

A group of freed prisoners were taken to the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier today. But it is unclear how many were freed.

During last week's release, the Red Crescent said it took seven freed Palestinian prisoners to hospital due to poor health.

Palestinian prisoners serving multiple life sentences are among those set to be released by Israel today, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an organization in the occupied West Bank.

Among them is 47-year-old Mansour Shraim, who it said has been imprisoned since 2002 and was sentenced to 14 life sentences. The club added that he obtained a master’s degree in Israeli studies during his detention.

Musa Nawawra, 70, is also set to be released since his imprisonment in 2007, the club said, noting that he is one of the oldest prisoners detained by Israel.

The club did not say what the prisoners had been found guilty of, and Israeli officials were not immediately available to comment.

Many people gathered in Giv’ot Bar to watch the release of Sagui Dekel-Chen unfold live on television, and they’ve been here for several hours.

When they first saw those three hostages released from Hamas custody, there was a silence in the room. As soon as they started walking off the stage and the hostages were heading toward the Red Cross vehicles, toward freedom, they erupted.

They started singing, they started crying, they’ve been dancing, taking pictures capturing this moment that this community has been waiting for since October 7, 2023. 

As the three Israeli hostages released today are reunited with their families, they will also be confronted with heartbreaking gaps in their knowledge about their loved ones and the lives they left behind.

Sasha Alexander Troufanov was abducted along with his family in kibbutz Nir Oz. While his female relatives were released last November, his father died in captivity.

“We don’t know if he is aware that his father, Vitaly, was murdered on October 7,” Sasha’s family said in a statement released today by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “This knowledge — or lack thereof — will completely transform his homecoming from a day of great joy to one of deep mourning for his beloved father.”

It is also unclear if Iair Horn knows that his brother, 38-year-old Eitan Horn, remains in captivity

Sagui Dekeln-Chen, meanwhile, has not yet met his third daughter, Sachar, who was born after he was taken hostage on October 7.

A cheering and whistling crowd greeted Palestinian prisoners and detainees as they were freed in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank today following the release of three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

After stepping out of white vans that had transported them from prison, freed men were carried aloft on the shoulders of those who had gathered to greet them, before sharing emotional reunions with people in the crowd.

Some onlookers waved green, red, white and black Palestinian flags and others the yellow flag of Fatah, a Palestinian faction and Hamas rival.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement celebrating the release of Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn.

“We welcome them with a big hug,” it said. "We will assist in their rehabilitation after the long and tortuous days in captivity."

Netanyahu's office added that Israel was working "in full coordination with the United States with the goal of rescuing all our hostages."

The three hostages released today have crossed into Israel, according to the country’s military.

“The returning hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with members of their families,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The three hostages released by Hamas:

Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old American Israeli who refurbished old buses into mobile tech classrooms for underserved children, was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was living with his wife and their two daughters.

He is set to be taken to Sheba Hospital in Israel later today alongside 29-year-old Sasha Alexander Troufanov, a Russian Israeli who was abducted along with his family in kibbutz Nir Oz. His father died in captivity, while his female relatives were released last November.

Iair Horn, 46, an Argentine Israeli, was also kidnapped from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz along with his brother Eitan Horn, 38, who remains in captivity. He is expected to be taken to Ichilov Hospital.

The three hostages released today have been transferred to Israeli custody inside the Gaza strip, the country’s military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said the hostages would be taken to Israeli territory where they will undergo "an initial medical assessment."

Crowds cheered and waved Israeli flags in so-called hostage square in Tel Aviv, watching screens showing Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn being released and handed over to the Red Cross after 16 months in captivity.

Several people could be seen holding up pictures of the hostages that have been freed, while others simply jumped for joy and raised their hands to the sky. 

Afterward, some among the crowd could be seen singing with tears in their eyes. Others with their arms around each other standing in silent embrace. 

Each of the hostages have now been led off stage and transferred to the Red Cross vehicles, which will take the trio into Israel — a drive that is likely to take about 30 minutes.

The vehicles that departed the staging area were accompanied by a truck full of armed fighters, while civilians chased alongside holding up cameras.

The Israeli military also announced that the hostages have been transferred.

Three hostages, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn, have emerged from the white van to cheers from the crowd, and have been ordered onto the stage alongside a number of fighters holding weapons.

The trio each appear to be holding a document and a bag, and are lining up on the stage with the gunmen. As during last week’s release, they are also each speaking to the crowd, although this time it appears they are not being interviewed directly. 

The returning hostages appear to be in much better shape than Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami, whose emaciated condition when they were released last week prompted anger and dismay in Israel.

A member of the Red Cross has taken to the stage alongside a fighter, who has presented them with a document to sign, as we have seen in previous releases.

At least three vehicles have arrived at the staging area ahead of the hostage release in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

One of them, a white van, appears similar to the vehicle that has carried returning hostages to previous releases. It was accompanied to the square by a truck carrying a number of fighters holding guns.

Some 15 to 20 colleagues, friends and family of American Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, have gathered in Giv’ot Bar to watch the release of 36-year-old today.

There’s bottle of champagne ready to be popped, but the energy is quite calm. Israeli flags and yellow flags for the hostages are tucked into the couch where everyone is sitting.

All of them are wearing T-shirts with Sagui's face on them and watching Channel 12 on Israeli television, which was running the release live.

Red Cross vehicles have arrived at the arena in Khan Younis, where Hamas are set to release three male hostages today.

Video from the scene showed excited civilians racing to grab a photo of the convoy as it weaved its way through the crowds into the square, some of them scrambling on top of cars to capture the moment.

The three cars have parked but nobody has emerged from the vehicles. Hamas vehicles carrying the hostages have not arrived yet.

Scores of fighters from the Al-Qassam and Saraya al-Quds battalions have lined up by the stage where today’s hostage release is expected to take place today They holding weapons in what has become a familiar display of force by Hamas and other militants at hostage releases.

Hundreds of civilians have also gathered round to watch today's handover, where Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn, are set to be released.

As with previous releases, Hamas have set up Palestinian flags and banners of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the handover square. a giant posted to the left of the stage appears to show the final moments of former Hamas military chief, Yahya Sinwar, sitting in a red armchair in the room where he was killed in October.

A stage in the Gaza city of Khan Younis set up by Hamas ahead of the planned hostage release has one poster that reads “no migration except to Jerusalem.”

President Donald Trump sparked controversy when he said that the United States “will take over the Gaza Strip” for development. Trump has further said that Palestinians would be resettled outside the Gaza Strip under his plan.

In an interview that aired Monday on Fox News, Trump was asked Palestinians would have the right to return to the land. Trump said, “No, they wouldn’t because they’re going to have much better housing, much better.”

His comments prompted a backlash and skepticism from the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission says that 369 prisoners held by Israel will be released today as part of the release of three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

The commission said that the vast majority, 333, were detained from Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The rest include 29 from the West Bank, and seven from Jerusalem and its suburbs.

The releases today mark the sixth exchange under the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas will free three hostages — Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Alexander Troufanov and Iair Horn — today, a spokesperson for the militant group said Friday.

Abu Obaida, a spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, Al Qassam Brigades, told NBC News on Friday that Hamas will release the three hostages according to the terms of the ceasefire deal it brokered with Israel on Jan. 19.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that Israel had “received” the list of names from Hamas in an official statement Friday.

Dekel-Chen, 36, is an American Israeli who refurbished old buses into mobile tech classrooms for underserved children. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was living with his wife and their two daughters.

Read the full story here.

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