Hamas frees 3 Israeli hostages in Gaza, Israel releases 369 prisoners

All three hostages released are men who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel where some 80 of 1,400 residents were taken hostage on October 7, 2023. Here's a quick look at their background

- AFP

PALESTINIAN militants released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 369 Palestinian inmates freed by Israel, completing the latest swap despite fears the Gaza truce deal was near collapse.

An AFP journalist saw masked Hamas gunmen parade the hostages onto a stage before a crowd in Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis.

Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn were made to make statements into a microphone before being handed over to the Red Cross and taken back home to Israeli territory, after being held for more than 16 months.

Clutching gift bags given by their captors, the three men, flanked by fighters, called for the completion of further hostage exchanges under the ceasefire deal.