Hamas freed three Israeli hostages
The Palestinian radical movement Hamas has released and handed over hostages to Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on February 8.
"According to the information received from the Red Cross, three hostages have been handed over and are on their way to IDF forces and Shabak (Israel's Internal Security Special Service. - Ed.) in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a Telegram statement.
The three freed men were later handed over by the Red Cross to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. From there, they will be taken to a military facility in southern Israel for an initial examination.
As of 12:52 Moscow time, Ohad Ben-Ami, Or Levy and Eliyahu Sharabi had crossed the border into Israel.
Russian Alexander Trufanov still remains among the movement's hostages. Earlier, on February 4, Hamas deputy politburo chief Musa Abu Marzouk told Izvestia that Trufanov was fine and would soon be released.
On February 5, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that Tel Aviv intends to destroy Hamas, return all Jewish hostages and eliminate the threat to the country from the Gaza Strip. The American leader, in turn, called Gaza a demolition site and suggested that Palestinians should be resettled in Jordan, Egypt or other countries.
On Jan. 19, the first phase of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. During this phase of the deal, which will last 42 days, 33 Israeli hostages and some 1,900 Palestinians are to be released. On the same day, the movement released three hostages in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, and on January 26, four military girls were handed over to the Red Cross. They were subsequently flown back to their homeland.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
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