Latest news with #SashaTroufanov
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Red Cross must not become a tool of Hamas propaganda
Does the Red Cross abide by the Geneva Convention? I only ask because article three mandates that prisoners of war must 'in all circumstances be treated humanely', banning 'outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment'. Of course, Sasha Troufanov, 29, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and 46-year-old Iair Horn – who were subjected to the grimly familiar ritual degradation by Hamas upon their release on Saturday – were not even prisoners of war. They were ordinary people, seized from their families as macabre bargaining chips. Nonetheless, you'd have thought that the Red Cross might have objected to Hamas propaganda by refusing to take part in yet another grotesque signing ceremony. But no. This time, there was even a fresh innovation: Horn, whose younger brother Eitan remains in captivity, was forced to hold a kind of trophy consisting of a block of wood topped with an hourglass and plastered with pictures of one of the remaining hostages and his mother, bearing the inscription 'time is running out'. There was no sign of objection from the Red Cross official, who had so compliantly sat on the stage and signed the jihadi book. The other two hostages may have been spared the mortification of the hourglass, but their stories were no less tumultuous. Troufanov had yet to be told that his father had been murdered on October 7, while Dekel-Chen, a keen tennis player, would later learn that he had become a father again himself. While in captivity, he had missed both the birth of his youngest daughter and her first birthday. The apparent complicity of the Red Cross, which historically jettisoned every humanitarian principle when it came to the Jews, was no surprise to those familiar with both its recent and distant history. This was the organisation that in 1944 wrote to the War Refugee Board in Switzerland claiming there was no 'trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners' at Auschwitz. That same year, it produced a glowing report about the Theresienstadt concentration camp after the Germans had planted gardens, renovated barracks and staged social and cultural events during their visit. Deportations resumed thereafter. Eventually, the organisation admitted it had been aware of the Nazi atrocities all along and apologised. But this behaviour was hardly an outlier. During the War, the Red Cross was riddled with Nazi sympathy; the head of its German wing, Ernst-Robert Grawitz, a physician and SS officer, helped implement euthanasia and medical experimentation programmes, while after 1945, Red Cross officials joined the Vatican in helping thousands of Nazis to escape. These are thought to include Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele. Those years still cast a long shadow. For more than 70 years, the Red Cross refused to admit Israel's Red Star of David, or Magen David Adom, as a member, making it the only nation state to have its ambulance service excluded. The Palestinian Red Crescent, by contrast, to this day remains the only ambulance service that is not aligned to a nation state but has been admitted as a fully-fledged member nonetheless. Then came October 7. The Red Cross responded true to form. It showed little interest in securing access to the Israeli hostages – one despairing daughter of an 84-year-old woman held by Hamas resorted to dropping her medication off at the Red Cross offices in Jerusalem and fruitlessly begging them to deliver it – but frequently criticised Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners, as well as posting constantly on social media about the suffering of Gaza. You know the darkest aspect of all this? The Red Cross is not unusual for international institutions. In fact, it is typical. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The Red Cross must not become a tool of Hamas propaganda
Does the Red Cross abide by the Geneva Convention? I only ask because article three mandates that prisoners of war must 'in all circumstances be treated humanely', banning 'outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment'. Of course, Sasha Troufanov, 29, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and 46-year-old Iair Horn – who were subjected to the grimly familiar ritual degradation by Hamas upon their release on Saturday – were not even prisoners of war. They were ordinary people, seized from their families as macabre bargaining chips. Nonetheless, you'd have thought that the Red Cross might have objected to Hamas propaganda by refusing to take part in yet another grotesque signing ceremony. But no. This time, there was even a fresh innovation: Horn, whose younger brother Eitan remains in captivity, was forced to hold a kind of trophy consisting of a block of wood topped with an hourglass and plastered with pictures of one of the remaining hostages and his mother, bearing the inscription 'time is running out'. There was no sign of objection from the Red Cross official, who had so compliantly sat on the stage and signed the jihadi book. The other two hostages may have been spared the mortification of the hourglass, but their stories were no less tumultuous. Troufanov had yet to be told that his father had been murdered on October 7, while Dekel-Chen, a keen tennis player, would later learn that he had become a father again himself. While in captivity, he had missed both the birth of his youngest daughter and her first birthday. The apparent complicity of the Red Cross, which historically jettisoned every humanitarian principle when it came to the Jews, was no surprise to those familiar with both its recent and distant history. This was the organisation that in 1944 wrote to the War Refugee Board in Switzerland claiming there was no 'trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners' at Auschwitz. That same year, it produced a glowing report about the Theresienstadt concentration camp after the Germans had planted gardens, renovated barracks and staged social and cultural events during their visit. Deportations resumed thereafter. Eventually, the organisation admitted it had been aware of the Nazi atrocities all along and apologised. But this behaviour was hardly an outlier. During the War, the Red Cross was riddled with Nazi sympathy; the head of its German wing, Ernst-Robert Grawitz, a physician and SS officer, helped implement euthanasia and medical experimentation programmes, while after 1945, Red Cross officials joined the Vatican in helping thousands of Nazis to escape. These are thought to include Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele. Those years still cast a long shadow. For more than 70 years, the Red Cross refused to admit Israel's Red Star of David, or Magen David Adom, as a member, making it the only nation state to have its ambulance service excluded. The Palestinian Red Crescent, by contrast, to this day remains the only ambulance service that is not aligned to a nation state but has been admitted as a fully-fledged member nonetheless. Then came October 7. The Red Cross responded true to form. It showed little interest in securing access to the Israeli hostages – one despairing daughter of an 84-year-old woman held by Hamas resorted to dropping her medication off at the Red Cross offices in Jerusalem and fruitlessly begging them to deliver it – but frequently criticised Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners, as well as posting constantly on social media about the suffering of Gaza.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hamas Releases Three Hostages, Including One American
American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, Russian-Israeli Sasha Troufanov and Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn were released by Hamas under the cease-fire deal.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel: Hamas hostage release stunt despicable and cruel
Israel has decried the hostage release ceremony as 'despicable and cynical' after one of the captives was forced to hold an hourglass that read 'time is running out'. Condemning the spectacle, Isaac Herzog, Israel's president, said that the country will 'do everything in its power' to free the rest of the captives held in Gaza. Iair Horn, 46, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Sasha Troufanov, 29, were released after 498 days in captivity in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. In a cruel stunt, Hamas handed Mr Horn an hourglass with the images of remaining hostage Matan Zangauker and his mother Einav. The inscription read: 'Time is running out'. The three male hostages appeared pale and worn, but in a better state than the three hostages released last weekend who looked emaciated, prompting fury in Israel. Donald Trump responded saying they were in 'good shape', but condemned Hamas for missing the deadline he imposed earlier this week on the Palestinian terror group to release 'all hostages' by noon on Saturday. The peace deal between Israel and Hamas this week had been on the verge of collapse after Hamas refused to release more hostages and accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by refusing to allow aid into Gaza. In response, Israel vowed to resume the brutal fighting which has been paused for more than a month, calling up reservists and placing its forces on high alert. Thank you for following our live coverage as Hamas released three more hostages as part of ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel. Gazans are burning the shirts that Israel's prison service dressed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in before they were released today. The shirts featured a Star of David and the words: 'We will not forget nor forgive.' The Kremlin on Saturday said it was grateful to Hamas for freeing a Russian-Israeli hostage from Gaza in another prisoner exchange with Israel. 'Moscow welcomes the freeing of Alexander Trufanov (identified by Israel as Sasha Troufanov) and expresses its gratitude to the Hamas leadership for taking this decision,' Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said. Israel says that 70 hostages are still being held, over half of whom are believed to still be alive. Here, The Telegraph tracks who has been freed, who has died in captivity, whose abducted bodies are still being held and who remains alive. Hamas said on Saturday that the United States, a mediator in the Gaza truce deal, must ensure that Israel abides by the agreement to secure the release of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory. 'The United States must compel the occupation to adhere to the agreement if it truly cares about the prisoners' (hostages) lives,' said Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas said in the wake of the Israeli hostage released. Lebanese official media said an Israeli drone struck the country's south on Saturday, without reporting casualties, days before a deadline in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. 'An Israeli enemy drone carried out a strike' targeting the outskirts of the town of Ainata, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, adding that 'nobody was hurt' and that 'drones and surveillance aircraft are still flying over the area at low altitude'. Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said that the military is 'preparing offensive plans' amid efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages. 'Alongside the great excitement with the return of each hostage, we remember in the IDF our duty to return everyone,' Lt. Gen. Halevi said on Saturday. 'We are making great efforts to do so while at the same time preparing with offensive plans,' he added. Donald Trump said it is up to Israel to decide what to do now that the deadline he imposed on Hamas to release all the remaining hostages has passed. Following the release of Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Sasha Troufanov on Saturday morning, he said: 'Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape!' 'Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O'CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!' he added on Truth Social. Earlier this week, he said 'let all hell break out' if Hamas does not release hostages still being held in Gaza by noon on Saturday. 'I'd say they ought to be returned by 12 o'clock on Saturday, and if they're not returned - all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o'clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out,' he said on Monday in the Oval Office. Earlier on Monday, Hamas had threatened to postpone the hostage release scheduled for Saturday 'until further notice' after it accused Israel of breaking the terms of the ceasefire deal. Footage shows released hostages Yair Horn and Sagui Dekel-Chen being reunited with their families at a military facility near the Gaza border, after 498 days in Hamas captivity. Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, 33 Israeli hostages were due to be released in the first phase which started on Jan 19 and is supposed to last six weeks. So far, 19 Israeli hostages have been released and 14 are yet to be handed over. Of those 14, Israel says only six are alive. Five Thai nationals held captive have also been freed. Buses carrying hundreds of Palestinians freed as part of today's hostage-prisoner swap reach Gaza. The buses reached the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, according to an AFP journalist, who said the prisoners made victory signs and waved at the crowd that welcomed them. The three released hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Troufanov, and Iair Horn, are being airlifted from an army facility near the Gaza border to hospitals in central Israel. They will then meet the rest of their families and receive medical care. Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said that the three hostages released today were 'forced to endure' a 'despicable and cynical ceremony'. 'Completing a hostage deal is a human, moral, and Jewish imperative. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring back all our sisters and brothers from captivity in Gaza,' he added. Israel Katz, the defence minister, said Israel will continue to work with the US to 'ensure that all hostages return to Israel soon' and that 'the Palestinian terror threat is destroyed and removed from Gaza'. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced it will hold a fast to mark 500 days of captivity for the remaining hostages held in Gaza. It will be take place on Monday and will last 500 minutes. A rally will be held in Hostages Square at the end. 'This fast is nothing compared to the suffering they are experiencing there, but it is a day of identification and solidarity that strengthens the hostages and amplifies the cry of those whose voices cannot be heard,' the Forum said. 'There is no more time - we must act immediately to bring everyone back.' ' Our Sagui is home. A friend, a son, a partner and above all a father and he is back. 498 days, almost 500 days, he was so far away and now he is finally on Israeli soil, with us. 'In the coming hours he will begin the rehabilitation process, he will meet the girls Gali Weber and meet his little daughter, Shahar, who was born while he was in captivity, for the first time. The heart aches for everything he missed but now he is here, unlike many others. 'It is important for us to emphasize that there are many more families waiting for their loved ones, and many children waiting for their fathers.' Sagui Dekel-Chen, an American-Israeli, has been reunited with his wife, Avital, who was waiting to meet him near the border. She said: 'I've got my breath back, my air back.' Avital had been eight months pregnant with their third child when Sagui was kidnapped on Oct 7. He smiled as he was told him he had one-year-old daughter, reports Israel's Channel 12. Asked about his medical condition, Sagui replied: 'I'm great, I'm great, I have a daughter.' Keith Siegel, a released American hostage, has released a video statement thanking Donald Trump for his administration's work in securing his release. 'I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions. Every single day felt like it could be my last,' he said. 'President Trump you are the reason I am home alive.' Israel's prison service has changed the release clothing of Palestinian prisoners, dressing them in tracksuits that feature the Star of David and the inscription: 'We will not forget, we will not forgive.' During previous rounds of prisoner releases, they were given bracelets with the Israel Prison Service (IPS) inscription and shown a film about destruction inside the Gaza Strip. Today marks the largest amount of Gazan prisoners released at once so far in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Footage shows the families of released hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn watching their loved ones being handed to the Red Cross. They are waiting at a facility outside Gaza to be reunited. Credit: Instagram/@idf The first released prisoners arrived by bus in Ramallah, a central city in the West Bank, and were greeted by a cheering crowd. Men were carried through the streets as people chanted 'Allahu Akhbar' (God is greatest) and relatives cried with joy. The first bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners has departed Israel's Ofer Prison in the West Bank. In total, 369 detainees are expected to be released today, including 36 serving life sentences over deadly attacks. Matan Zangauker, 24, is not listed to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal. However, the deal's second phase - in outline - would see Hamas release remaining living hostages comprising young men not considered 'humanitarian cases', a category which applies to Mr mother, Einav, confirmed in September that her son was alive and being kept alongside ten other living hostages. The emaciated sight of the three men released last weekend shocked the Israeli public, prompting a slide in the polls for Benjamin Netanyahu and increasing the urgency of demands for the remaining hostages to be this month, the families of hostages Mr Zangauker and Nimrod Cohen petitioned the High Court demanding it order the government to publish the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal agreed with Hamas in its entirety. The agreement has so far only been published in part. The three released hostages, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn, have arrived at an IDF facility near the Israeli border community of Re'im after leaving the Gaza Strip. They will meet with their family members after 498 in captivity and have an initial physical and mental check-up. Hamas has sent a message that 'time is running out' to release further hostages, as part of a 'sick' stunt at Saturday's handover. The terror group forced one of the three men just released to hold an hour glass above a photograph of hostages Matan Zangauker and his mother Einav, alongside in the inscription 'time is running out'. The object had earlier been placed in full view of the cameras on the table at which Hamas and the Red Cross signed and stamped documents ahead of Saturday's release. The stunt is the latest in a series of measures employed by Hamas at the hostage release handovers to control the narrative and, in the view of many Israeli commentators, inflict further psychological torture on the families and the wider public. These include forcing hostages to undergo TV-style interviews on stage in front of a crowd of Palestinian civilians, in which they are invited to thank their captors for their treatment, despite reportedly having been starved and tortured. It will also be seen as an attempt to put Benjamin Netanyahu's government under pressure from mainstream Israelis to begin negotiating for a second phase of the ceasefire deal. He has so far not allowed negotiators to begin substantive discussions on the next stage, with phase one due to expire within two weeks. Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights lawyer and CEO of the International Legal Forum, which stands up for Israeli interests, said: Sick bastards! Everything Hamas do, is carefully orchestrated sadistic propaganda.' In a stunt that has been branded 'barbaric' by commentators online, Yair Horn was handed an hourglass with the images of hostage Matan Zangauker and his mother Einav with the inscription 'time is running out.' Matan Zangauker, 24, who was abducted with his girlfriend from their kibbutz home during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Matan's mother, Einav, last communicated with her son at 10:08 on that day. He sent WhatsApp messages saying: 'They're breaking into the homes,' 'I love you,' 'don't cry' and finally - 'they're getting in.' For 10 excruciating days, as authorities were trying to gain control amid the shock and chaos of an attack that killed 1,200 people, the family did not know Matan's fate. Then came official notice: he was one of some 250 people abducted to Gaza. Matan is among those who are expected to be included in the second phase of the deal, when all remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — are to be exchanged for a yet-to-be-determined number of Palestinian prisoners. The second phase is also expected to include the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The three hostages are now back in Israel, the IDF has confirmed. Here, Sasha Troufanov bids farewell to his captors. His condition appears to be much better than those who were released last week. Yair Horn was handed a certificate before heading to a Red Cross vehicle in Khan Younis. The three hostages were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest hit communities in southern Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack. Mr Horn was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who had been staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity. Mr Dekel Chen had been working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later. Mr Troufanov was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanov's father was killed in the Oct. 7 attack. Even as the three men are in the process of being released, it's not fast enough for the crowd here in Hostages Square. They chant the Hebrew word for 'now', which has become the slogan of the hostage return movement, over and over again. Applause went up as Sasha Troufanov, Iair Horn and Sagui Dekel-Chen emerged. It was tinged with relief, not just as the sight of them alive, but because, at first impression, they look in better shape than the three men released last week. The so-called interviews on stage seem to have been far shorter than last week. Perhaps that's the Hamas PR machine reacting to the disgust at previous spectacles. All being well, the three men are now in their final seconds of captivity. Friends and supporters react to the release of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Sasha Troufanov have now been handed over to the Red Cross. They are in vehicles heading towards the Israeli border. The three men - Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Sasha Troufanov - are on stage now. They look in a much better state than the three hostages released last weekend. These three have been in captivity for nearly 500 days, and are dressed in tracksuits. A Red Cross official is now signing and exchanging documents with a Hamas militant. The pair are sat side-by-side at a table beside the stage. Two vehicles have just arrived at the handover site, including a white van that has been used by Hamas in previous releases. It is understood that the three hostages are inside the vehicles. A small round of applause just went up here in Hostages Square as the feed from Khan Younis showed the arrival of the Red Cross vehicles, which it is hoped will transport the released hostages back to safety in the next few minutes. It is all but certain they will have to endure a humiliating release 'ceremony' first. But the crowd here in Tel Aviv have learnt to expect that. Maya Arbel is also among them, clutching a placard, despite having no personal connection to any of the missing. 'I'm Israeli and we are a family,' she said. 'Even if we are not family by blood, we are family. I try to come most Saturdays. I promised myself that we would be here every Saturday until everyone is home. Referring to the moment we saw the emaciated state of the three released last week, Maya said: 'It was very hard, very hard. I'm worried about how these will look. I'm afraid of who is alive and who is dead.' It's a tense atmosphere in Hostages Square ahead of the release of three men, expected to begin in the next few minutes. While there is joy that three more lives are being restored – all from the kibbutz of Nir Oz – the shocking state of last week's released hostages has generated fear that we are about to witness a similar scene. Rita Lifshitz was standing at the front of the crowd with three banners, each with the face of one of the three to be released today. As a resident of Nir Oz, the 60-year-old knows all three men well. In fact Sagui Dekel-Chen, who reportedly fought Hamas hand-to-hand before being captured, is one of her son's best friends – both closely involved in the running of the kibbutz pub and central to the social life of the community. 'We have three releasing today, which brings our hearts to a special moment,' she told me a short moment ago. 'But we still have 20 hostages left from my home Kibbutz Nir Oz. We are the refugees of Israel – it's not just that we don't have our family members home, we also don't have our home,' she added, referencing the fact that so many of the communities hit in the Hamas massacre have been displaced. 'Sadgui is from the same group as my son Daniel in the kibbutz. So I'm the mother of the group. About the only place that wasn't burned in Nir Oz is the pub – it's waiting for him to be back home now.' Red Cross cars have arrived at the hostage handover site in Khan Younis. The organisation will receive the hostages from Hamas before taking them to Israeli forces. Palestinian Islamic Jihad has released a propaganda video of one of the hostages being handed their release papers, according to The Times of Israel. The video reportedly shows Islamic Jihad militants handing Sasha Troufanov a document with the 'decision to release him'. Mr Troufanov, who is seen in the clip being held in a tunnel, is one of three hostages due to be released shortly. Hamas is transporting the three Israeli hostages in a vehicle taken from Israel on October 7, according to a Hamas source cited by Al Jazeera. The source added that hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen was presented by his captors with a gold coin as a gift for the birth of his four-month-old daughter, who was born while he was in captivity. Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad say the groups had deployed about 200 militants for the handover ceremony. Ariel Oseran, a reporter for i24 News, shared a clip on social media of Hamas fighters arriving in Khan Younis: Dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters have lined up near a stage in Khan Younis where the Israeli hostages are set to be paraded. The stage, which is draped with Palestinian flags, has been set up near a heavily damaged multi-storey building. According to reports, the site is close to the ruined house of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by Israel last October. Hostages will be handed over to the Red Cross who will then transport them to Israeli forces. Earlier this week Ziv Abud heard the news she had long been dreaming of: her beloved Eliya Cohen is alive. This week marks eight years since they became a couple. Since Cohen's abduction by Hamas, his mother has told Abud that he was planning to propose on their next holiday to Thailand, and she calls Cohen her fiancé. But, along with the new knowledge that Cohen is alive, Abud says in an interview over Zoom, came the horror of learning that he is being starved and tortured and has been shackled in an airless tunnel, injured, for almost his entire time in captivity. Read more: Freed hostages say my fiancé is alive – but chained up, starving and under the impression I'm dead An American who fought 'hand-to-hand' with Hamas before being captured will be released on Saturday alongside two other hostages, Hamas has confirmed. On Friday, relief swept Israel as the terrorist group handed over the names of the three men within the deadline, having threatened to postpone hostage releases earlier in the week. They include that of Sagui Delek-Chen, a US citizen and resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz who ushered his wife and children into a sealed room once the Oct 7 attack began before going out to confront the gunmen along with other members of the kibbutz security team. Read more: Hamas to release American hostage who fought terrorist group 'hand-to-hand' Danny Elgarat, a former bomb squad police chief who is now a history teacher, is the man behind the militant side of Israel's hostage return movement. It only took him a few weeks after his brother Itzik, 69, was abducted on Oct 7 to decide that, in his view, the non-partisan, vigil-style gatherings organised by the mainstream Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which have claimed most international attention, were giving Benjamin Netanyahu a free pass. He and a group of supporters decided on a more direct course of action. They blocked roads and lit bonfires and smoke bombs in the streets, and the police responded with stun grenades, water cannons and cavalry charges. 'I haven't been arrested,' Mr Elgarat tells The Telegraph. 'But they've attacked me more than once.' Read more: The Israeli anarchist taking Hamas hostage fight to Netanyahu The families of the three hostages due to be released today will be fearful over the health of their loved ones. Last week's release sparked anger in Israel and beyond, with the emaciated state of the freed Israeli hostages sparking concern over conditions in captivity. Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel, who was released in a previous exchange, said he was 'starved and... tortured, both physically and emotionally' during his captivity. The families of Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 58, were visibly distressed upon seeing footage of the men handed over by Hamas after 491 days in captivity. All three men (pictured below) looked noticeably gaunt and weak. There were also fears for Palestinians in Israeli custody after some prisoners required medical treatment on their release. Three hostages are due to be released by Hamas this morning. They are: Iair Horn, 46 Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 Sasha Troufanov, 29 All three were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where 80 of about 400 residents were taken hostage during the Oct 7 attack. Mr Horn was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who had been staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity. Mr Dekel-Chen had been working in the kibbutz machine shop when militants attacked. His wife, Avital, who was seven months pregnant at the time, hid in a safe room with their two daughters. Avital gave birth to their third daughter in December 2023. Mr Troufanov was taken hostage along with his grandmother, Irena Tati, his mother, Yelena (Lena), and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen. The three women were released in November 2023. Troufanov's father was killed in the Oct 7 attack. So far, 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners have been freed during the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Read more: How many hostages are still in Gaza and who has been released? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Family and Friends of Released Israeli Hostage Celebrate After Hamas Handover
Family and friends of one of the three Israeli hostages released by Hamas on February 15 celebrated as they watched the news showing the handover. Footage filmed by Paulina Patimer showed the loved ones of Sasha Troufanov, who had been held by Hamas for nearly 500 days, break out in cheers and applause at the news of his release. The three hostages, Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Troufanov, were initially handed over to the Red Cross before being accompanied back to Israel by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) agents, the IDF said. Credit: Paulina Patimer via Storyful , , , , ? , . . . , , , , , ? . . . . , , , , , ? . , . , .
