Israel and Hamas finish the last exchange because the ceasefire ceasefire has only 2 weeks

Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – Israel and Hamas finished the sixth exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners on Saturday with just over two weeks to play in the initial phase of Fragile Gaza Ceasefire, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Atterri in Israel to start a tour in the Middle East.

The Israelis expressed their relief as three hostages – Argentinian -Israeli Iir Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36 years old; And Alexander Troufanov, Russian -Israeli, 29 years old – seemed in better condition than the emaciated released a week ago.

Troufanov was informed of the death of his father during the attack on October 7, 2023 led by Hamas which sparked the war of 16 months. Chen met his youngest daughter for the first time. Horn’s brother Eitan remains in captivity.

Armed activists made the pale and worn men speak before putting them back to the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Younis. The 369 Palestinian prisoners were then released.

A tense dispute had threatened to derail the ceasefire, but Hamas said Thursday that it would advance with the expected exchange after declaring that mediators in Egypt Gaza.

The proposal of the American president Donald Trump to withdraw more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and to settle them elsewhere in the region also rocked the truce. Rubio will have more learning more, starting with his meeting on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump published on social networks on Saturday that “Israel will now have to decide what they will do around 12:00 pm today, the deadline imposed at the exit of all hostages. The United States will support the decision they make! »»

Israel did not impose such a deadline. Netanyahu’s office said he would summon the cabinet as soon as possible to decide on the next steps.

In the occupied West Bank, the released prisoners were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. Some seemed emaciated and the Palestinian Emergency Service of the Red Crescent said that four had been taken for treatment. Buses transported 333 others to Gaza.

The ceasefire entered into force on January 19. Before Saturday, 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners were released during the first phase of the truce.

There were no substantial negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for the end of the war.

The hostages and prisoners released

The three hostages had been removed from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a hard community at the attack on October 7. Horn was taken with his brother, who should not be released in the first phase of the ceasefire.

“Now we can breathe a little. Our Iaiir is at home after surviving hell in Gaza, “said his family. “Now we have to bring Eitan back so that our family can really breathe.”

Chen’s wife, Avital Dekel Chen, hid in a safe room with their daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later. She told Israeli media that she was overwhelmed by the happiness of seeing her husband in Israel, where he met his youngest daughter, Sharchar.

Troufanov was taken hostage with his grandmother, her mother and her girlfriend. Women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. His family said they were “overwhelmed by emotion and gratitude” on Saturday.

Of the 251 people kidnapped during the October 7 attack, 73 remain in Gaza, about half considered dead. Almost all are men, including Israeli soldiers.

A hostage, Keith Siegel, 65, said in a video message to Trump on Friday that his kidnappers treated him worse while the war intensified, giving it kicks, spitting it and holding it without water or light.

Released Palestinian prisoners included 36 perpetuity in perpetuity for deadly attacks against the Israelis. They include Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close assistant of militant leader and emblematic Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti. Twenty-four of them will be exiled abroad.

“When I saw my son, my soul came back to me and I came back to life,” said Om Bashar, mother of Hassan Aweis, condemned to life in 2002 for voluntary homicide, planting an explosive and tempting apparatus of murder.

Israel also undertook to publish more than 1,000 Gaza prisoners provided that they did not participate in the attack on October 7.

The Israeli penitentiary service published the Palestinians in sweatshirts with a David star and the phrase “never forgive, never forget” in Arabic. Some threw their fleece sweaters on the ground and burned them.

The truce remains fragile

Netanyahu’s far -right allies want war in early March in order to destroy Hamas. The militant group remains in control of the territory after one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.

Hamas may not want to release more hostages if it believes that war will resume.

Many Israelis want an agreement to bring all the remaining hostages to the house, the fear that time is exhausted. They urge Netanyahu to send a senior level delegation to talks on the second phase of the ceasefire. “Any other decision is a sabotage that endangers the life of the kidnapped,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of the Matan Zangauker hostage in Tel Aviv.

A new challenge is Trump’s proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza, welcomed by the Israeli government. He was rejected by the Arab countries and the Palestinians, who fear that they cannot return. Human rights groups say that resettlement could constitute a war crime.

Trump also proposed that once the war ended, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would rearrange it as the “Middle East Riviera”.

At its peak, the war moved 90% of the Gaza population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands returned home during the ceasefire, although many have found that rubble, human remains and unploded ammunition.

The war killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many fighters were. Israel says he killed more than 17,000 activists, without providing evidence.

Bwaitel reported to Beitunia, the West Bank, and Lidman reported in Tel Aviv, Israel. Writers of the associated press Waafa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

Image credits: AP / Abdel Kareem Hana