Hamas militants released three male Israeli hostages held for nearly 18 months on Saturday after a tense standoff with Israel this week saw the fragile ceasefire pushed to the brink of collapse.
The second phase of the deal should see the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers, more Palestinian detainees freed, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov, 29 were paraded by heavily armed militants on stage in the southern city of Khan Younis before being driven to Israel.
The completion of phase one – during which 33 hostages are set to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons – is only the first baby step on the road to long-term peace.
Halfway through phase one, talks on the parameters of phase two are supposed to be well advanced, so that – as one person briefed on the talks told me – there can be a seamless “smooth transition” once the first six-week period is over.
.jpeg?auto=webp&width=800)
