Jerusalem – After the most dangerous week for an already wobbled ceasefire, which holds the disaster gaza stroke, the ceasefire on Saturday remained up to date when the Hamas publication of three Israeli hostages, one of them, remained a US citizen.
Israel, in turn, freed 369 Palestinian prisoners, said his government.
The exchange, the sixth of its kind since the agreement almost a month ago, went more smoothly than some of the previous handover.
A week earlier, the Israelis were horrified and angry with the fragile, near the Skeleton state of three freed Israeli men and from emerging statements that hostages had suffered delivery and torture among their militants.
This time the three freed-in men who were civilians at the age of 20 to the mid-1940s appeared in much less worse physical form-they were confronted with a dark gauntlet that the prisoners have to endure before they were handed over.
Since the love of the hostages at home in Israel watched on large screens, the three were shown on a stage in southern Gaza, while showing “Certificates of publication” by their armed kidnappers.
In his part, Israel was released by Palestinian prisoners in white sweatshirts with a blue star of David and a notation in Arabic that their crimes would not forget. Some served lifelong prison terms for fatal attacks against Israelis.
The trio of the Israelis liberated Saturday was in the massive Hamas-led surprise on October 7, 2023, whose goals their Kibbutz, a small border community called Nir OZ, were. On this day, more than 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel on this day and around 250 were taken hostage.
Israel started a devastating reprisal campaign, in which more than 48,000 Palestinians were killed by the count of healthcare officers of the Gaza Strip who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say that the majority of the dead are women and children. Health officers say that thousands are also buried under rubble.
In the released publication 19 Israelis and five Thai citizens under the current ceasefire and around 150 in a short ceasefire, two months after the start of the war women, children, the sick and the elderly given priority. Most of the more than 70 soldiers still held are male soldiers; About half are believed dead.
Until the first appearance of the three Israelis in a place in southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, it was not entirely certain that the exchange on Saturday would continue.
After President Trump explained this month that he wanted Gaza to empty his residents and turn into a development in the resort style that would “own” the United States, the militant group threatened to set further publications for an indefinite stop What they said, violations of violations of the Agreement of Israel.
This in turn exhibited threats of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the “intensive” struggle in Gaza would resume if the latest publications did not go on. Trump increased the use by explaining that “hell would break out” if all the remaining hostages – not only those who are to be released on Saturday – were not released.
Trump then seemed to return this threat and at the same time to honor the deal.
However, the next phase of the agreement is expected to be even more popular. Since the negotiations are already far behind the schedule, the upcoming phase in March should be taken, which includes the publication of the remaining hostages and permanent ceasefire.
Both are extremely difficult goals. Hamas is averse to giving up the leverage of its remaining prisoners, Netanyahus, who require right -wing extremist political allies to resume the war, and Trump's proposal to depopulate Gaza has caused a riot throughout the Arab world.
The three published Saturday were all Dual Nationals: Israeli American Sagui Dekel -chen, 36; Russian Israel Alexander Troubanov, 29; and Israeli Argentine Isiir Horn, 46.
Dekel-Schen's wife Avital was pregnant at the time of his kidnapping and, according to family members, met his youngest daughter for the first time. Frequent learning prisoners learn from tragic developments long after the fact: Tropensh was announced after his release that his father had been killed on October 7th.
One of the hostages that were freed at the beginning of this month, Eli Sharabi, only learned after his release of his wife's death and two daughters.
Decel -chen was the second American citizen who was handed over under the initial phase of the ceasefire. On February 1, Hamas published another American National, Keith Siegel, together with the corpses of four other, at least one other living US citizen.