Tel Aviv, 1 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Palestinian militants released three more hostages in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as part of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli citizen Ofer Calderon, 54, were handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

About two hours later, US-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel, 65, was freed in Gaza City. With his release, Saturday's hostage handovers were complete.

In exchange, Israel was to release 183 Palestinian prisoners.

The hostages kidnapped 484 days ago were taken to an Israeli military base, where they were to met their families. They are then to be transferred to hospitals.

A truce in Gaza has held for nearly two weeks. Four swaps have freed 18 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

A three-phase ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19 aims to achieve a permanent end to the fighting and the release of all hostages still being held by the Iran-backed Hamas militia and their extremist allies.

After the release of the three abductees on Saturday, 79 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, 35 of whom are presumed dead by Israel.

Another exchange of hostages and prisoners is set for next weekend.

During this initial six-week stage, 33 Israeli hostages are due to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Hamas has said that eight of the 33 hostages on the list for release during this phase are dead. It is unclear who exactly they are.

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