Latest news with #SaguiDekel-Chen
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Father of Bloomfield man taken hostage by Gaza shares details on son's return home
CONNECTICUT (WTNH) — Sagui Dekel-Chen's father conducted an on-camera interview talking about his son's release from being held captive in Gaza. The 36-year-old grew up in Bloomfield but has duel U.S. and Israeli citizenship. Dekel-Chen was captured on Oct. 7, 2023. '500 days is a very long time to not know if a loved one is alive and if so, in what condition,' Watch the full video in the player above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
American-Israeli hostage ‘born again' after Hamas release: Father
(NewsNation) — American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen was released by Hamas on Saturday after nearly 500 days in captivity. His father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, said his son has been 'born again' after his release, adding that it's now time for his son to get treatment and heal from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. 'He's been, in a sense, sort of born again as a human being in the world that we inhabit, and that's joyous,' he said. 'It's joyous for himself. It's joyous for his wife, his three little girls, and our family, our community near us.' 500 days of the Israel-Hamas war, by the numbers Sagui Dekel-Chen was among the three men released in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday in the latest victory for the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. 'I have my son back. We have light back in our lives,' said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, recalling the moment he saw his son return home. 'To see him, and mostly, to see his eyes, was a moment I will never forget for the rest of my days. Since he was a little kid, he speaks with his eyes. From the second that I saw him in person, not just via camera, from the handoff in Gaza, my son was back after 500 days in hell. Glad to have him back.' Jonathan Dekel-Chen added that his son will need to undergo 'a lot of of recovering rehabilitation' from his wounds because he didn't receive proper medical attention. Hamas also released Israeli Argentinian Iair Horn and Russian Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, the Israeli Defense Forces confirmed. Chen was among the last remaining living Americans held in captivity. The State Department noted that Hamas still holds 73 hostages, including New Jersey native Edan Alexander, who had recently graduated high school, and the remains of four additional Americans who were killed in Gaza. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Man with Connecticut ties released in Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Hamas released three more hostages this weekend, among them a father of three from Connecticut. The release happened as Hamas ignored a deadline set by President Donald Trump to release all the Oct. 7 hostages. Sagui Dekel-Chen grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The 36-year-old has dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and spent 498 days as a captive in Gaza. He is a husband and now a father of three. 'In the coming hours, he will begin his rehabilitation process,' his family wrote in a press release. 'He will meet his daughters Gali and Bar and, for the first time, meet his little daughter, Shahar, who was born while he was in captivity.' Israel and Hamas complete their latest exchange as ceasefire's first phase has just 2 weeks left The hostage release happened as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel calling for the elimination of Hamas. 'Frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern, or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,' Rubio said. Dekel-Chen was last seen on Oct. 7, 2023, kissing his pregnant wife as he locked her and their daughters inside a safe room. As happy as they are to welcome Sagui home, the Deckel-Chen family acknowledged the work is far from over. Man with Connecticut ties to be released in Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal 'We did everything we could on all fronts to reach this moment, and we will continue to act until the last hostage returns home – this is our duty,' they wrote. The president set a deadline of this past Saturday for Hamas to release all its hostages but left it up to Israel what to do if the deadline was not met. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Japan Times
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Hamas and Israel complete sixth hostage-prisoner swap of Gaza truce
Jerusalem/Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – Palestinian militants released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian inmates freed by Israel, completing the latest swap despite fears the Gaza truce deal was near collapse. Masked Hamas gunmen paraded the hostages on a stage in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn were made to make statements into a microphone before being handed over to the Red Cross and taken back home 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.
Express Tribune
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Hamas, Israel complete sixth hostage-prisoner swap
KHAN YUNIS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian inmates 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 hostages onto a stage before a crowd in Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis. Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn were made to make statements into a microphone before being handed over to the Red Cross and taken back home 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 that sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead. The latest release led to tears of joy among friends and family members. "Finally, Sasha can be surrounded by his loved ones and begin a new path," Trupanov's family said in a statement. Dekel-Chen's wife, Avital, said in a call to her sister aired by Israel's Kan public broadcaster: "My breath has returned. He looks so handsome." Dekel-Chen finally learned the name of his youngest daughter, born two months after his capture.
