Sixth prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel completed under Gaza truce

Palestinian resistance fighters released three Israeli captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners 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 captives onto a stage before a crowd in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis.

Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn were handed over to the Red Cross and taken back 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.

Not long after, a busload of Palestinian prisoners departed Israel's Ofer Prison and were greeted by a cheering crowd in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, an AFP journalist said.

More buses took inmates from an Israeli prison in the Negev desert to the Gaza Strip, according to another AFP journalist.

Saturday's swap, the sixth since the truce took effect on January 19, came after Hamas had threatened to pause hostage releases over alleged Israeli violations, while Israel had threatened to resume the war if it did.

Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

Next phase

Later in the day, hundreds of Palestinians freed by Israel reached Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where they made victory signs and waved to a jubilant crowd.

In the West Bank, one freed prisoner, Amir Abu Radaha, said: "I've returned to my family and I've returned anew, born again."

Charged with intentionally causing death and being a member of an illegal organisation, according to Israel's justice ministry records, Abu Radaha had spent almost 32 years in jail.

Israel confirmed it had released a total of 369 prisoners.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group, those to be freed included 36 serving life sentences, 24 of whom were due for deportation under the terms of the truce deal.

The deportees, with shaven heads, later arrived by bus on the Egyptian side of the border, an AFP correspondent said.

Images broadcast on Israeli media showed Palestinian prisoners ahead of their release wearing sweatshirts featuring the prison service logo, a Star of David, and the slogan: "We will not forget and we will not forgive."

Negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire, meant to lay out steps towards a more permanent end to the war, are expected to begin next week.

US "must compel" Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose country is Israel's top backer and one of the truce mediators, is due to arrive in Israel late Saturday ahead of expected talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the truce.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, said in a statement after Saturday's captives release that the United States "must compel" Israel to adhere to the truce deal "if it truly cares about the prisoners' lives".

Israel's military chief, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, said that even though efforts continue to bring home the remaining captives, the military is "simultaneously preparing offensive plans".

An Israeli campaign group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, warned in a statement against the deal's "collapse".