West Asia : Hamas freed three Israelis who appeared to be in relatively good condition, and Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners. The exchange will likely sustain a fragile cease-fire, at least for a while.
The Israeli authorities said they had freed all 369 Palestinian prisoners slated for release as part of the exchange, concluding the sixth hostage-for-prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. Many were taken to the Gaza Strip, while others were released to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Israeli prison service said in a statement.
Militants in the southern Gaza Strip paraded the three hostages — Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 — before a crowd before releasing them.
The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardized in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire.
