Gaza/Tel Aviv, 15 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The militant Palestinian organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad released three more men kidnapped from Israel on Saturday, handing them over to representatives of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Iair Horn, 46, were then handed over to the Israeli military.

Troufanov had been held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while the other two had been held by Hamas following their abduction during the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

The men have since returned to Israel, after the military transported them across the border, it said, adding that they are now on their way to a military facility in the south of Israel, where they are expected to reunite with their families.

The handover comes after a week full of fears that a fragile ceasefire agreement to allow for the return of the hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners was on the brink of collapse, after Hamas accused Israel of violating the terms of the deal.

Last-minute negotiations managed to avoid this.

Israel is expected to release 369 imprisoned Palestinians in return for the men's release on Saturday, including 333 people arrested in Gaza following the October 7 attack and 36 sentenced to life imprisonment.

Hundreds gather to watch handover

During the handover broadcast live on television, the three men were led onto a stage by masked and armed fighters and forced to speak into a microphone.

They did not look as emaciated as the Israeli hostages released last week.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered to observe the men's release. Armed Hamas members took up position in and on a nearby destroyed building.

Despite Israel's military campaign launched following the October 7 attacks that has laid much of Gaza to ruin, the Islamist group continues to put on a show of force during the hostage handovers to present itself as invincible.

One of Israel's stated aims in the war is to completely eliminate Hamas.

73 still remaining in Gaza

The Gaza war began after after Hamas and allied groups killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted more than 250 to the coastal strip on October 7, 2023.

According to Palestinian data, more than 48,200 Palestinians have died in the following 15 months of fighting between Hamas and Israel in the sealed-off coastal territory.

The future of the ceasefire had been uncertain for days after Hamas announced a suspension of the hostage releases, claiming Israel was violating agreements and blocking aid deliveries.

US President Donald Trump then issued an ultimatum, demanding the release of the hostages by Saturday midday, warning that otherwise "all hell will break loose."

Following last-minute negotiations mediated by Egypt, Hamas relented and passed on the names of the three men to be released on Saturday.

Under the current ceasefire, which took effect on January 19, a total of 33 Israeli hostages are set to be released from Gaza in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners during an initial six-week phase.

So far, Hamas has released a total of 19 hostages under the ceasefire deal, in addition to five Thai nationals abducted from Israel.

The remaining 73 hostages still held in Gaza are not to be released until a second phase of the agreement, which has yet to be negotiated. Some 36 of them are believed to be no longer alive.

Further hostages are set to be released next weekend.

Photo: EPA