Three Hostages Back in Israel After 498 Days

Jerusalem, 15 February, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Israeli hostages Sasha Trufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Yair Horn were returned to Israel on Saturday after 498 days in captivity, the IDF and the Shin Bet confirmed on Saturday in a joint statement.

“The three returning hostages are currently being escorted by an elite IDF unit and Shin Bet forces on their way to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation. IDF commanders and soldiers salute and embrace the returnees as they make their way home.

The IDF Spokesperson urges the public to act responsibly and sensitively and to respect the privacy of the returnees”, the announcement concluded.

As with all previous releases, Hamas used this one too for propaganda purposes. On a stage in Khan Younis next to the former home of Hamas’ exterminated leader Yahya Shinar, the organization subjected the three hostages to a final ordeal by forcing them to take part in the show it once again staged. They were also compelled to deliver short speeches.

Hamas placed an hourglass on the stage with a photo of hostage Matan Zangauker with his mother and the inscription “Time is running out”. The hourglass was handed over to Yair Horn

In an attempt to show that it is also taking a “humanitarian approach” Hamas reportedly handed Sagui Dekel-Chen a gift for his baby daughter who was born two months after October 7 and like her mother and sisters was saved by coincidence after the terrorists failed to find the wife and children of the family.

In Tel Aviv, the release of the three men was greeted with cheers from the crowd that had gathered at the Hostages’ Square.

Alexandre Sasha Trufanov, 29, a dual citizen of Israel and Russia was abducted on October 7 from his family home in kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was visiting that Saturday together with his girlfriend Sapir Cohen. Hamas terrorists murdered his father and took the remaining four family members captive. The young couple along with Trufanov’s mother and grandmother. The three women were released in November 2023 but Sasha remained in captivity and was forced to appear on Islamic Jihad’s propaganda videos. The terrorist organization published the latest of those videos this morning, showing the young hostage receiving a document with “the decision to release him” in the tunnel where he was being held. His family requested the media to refrain from publishing the video or any stills from it.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, is one of three American citizens who was  believed to be still alive at the beginning of the ceasefire. Also a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, Dekel-Chen managed to keep his wife, Avital, seven months pregnant on October 7 safe alongside with his two daughters while his mother, who was injured, played dead to survive. He will be seeing his third daughter for the first time.

At the home of Sagui, who seemed unable to move his right arm during the release, family members watched with great joy. Speaking to reporters, they said that the images of the end of the ordeal they had experienced were painful at the same time but they were relieved and had not lost hope all this time.

Yair Horn, 46, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz together with his younger brother, Eitan, who had come to visit him on that day from Kfar Saba in central Israel. Their family made Aliyah from Argentina. For Yair and Eitan’s parents the ordeal will not end with Yair’s release as Eitan, 38, will not be among the hostages the terrorists will release in the first phase of the deal.

In a short statement after he was freed, Yair Horn’s mother thanked “everyone for their support” but reminded that Eitan remains in captivity and that she is waiting for the day when both of her children will be home.

The ceasefire seemed on the brink of collapse when Hamas said on Tuesday it would suspend Saturday’s hostage release over what it alleged were Israeli violations. Israel said it would resume fighting if the three hostages were not freed by noon while US President Donald Trump demanded that all the hostages be released.

On Thursday, Palestinians launched a rocket, the first in several weeks. It misfired and killed a Palestinian teengager in the area of Nusseirat in central Gaza. The IDF struck the source of the launch in the Burejj refugee camp.

Meanwhile the first bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners departed Israel’s Ofer Prison as live TV footage showed. A total of 369 Palestinian prisoners are to be released today in exchange for the three Israeli hostages.

The ongoing first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for up to 1,904 Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how Israeli captives are alive. Hamas notified Israeli authorities in January that of the 33, eight are dead but offered no evidence.

Since the first hostage releaseon Jan. 19, Hamas has freed 19 Israeli and five Thai captives in exchange for 952 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.

The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations during the ceasefire’s second phase. Critics say the phased approach condemns these 65 hostages to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 73 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed to be dead.