Hamas hands over 6th batch of Israeli captives for releasing 369 Palestinians

CAIRO – 15 February 2025: The Hamas movement announced that the sixth batch of three Israeli captives is being handed over as part of the ongoing prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel. The handover is taking place in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday.

According to a statement from Hamas, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al-Quds have been stationed in Khan Younis, where the handover is set to occur. Red Cross teams are on-site to receive the three Israeli prisoners. In exchange, Israel is expected to release 369 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons on Saturday, in accordance with the agreement.

Palestinian Prisoners Club announced that the would-be released Palestinians inlcude 29 from the West Bank, 7 from Al-Quds and its suburbs, and 24 of whom will be deported. In addition to 333 prisoners from Gaza detained after October 7, 2023.

At the handover site, Hamas members are holding signs with slogans such as "No migration except to Al-Quds," in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims about displacing Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Other signs read “O Al-Quds, bear witness: We are your soldiers!” and “We crossed over [swiftly] like a thread of sunlight.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prison Service vehicles have arrived at the prisons to transport Palestinian prisoners in the coming hours.

On Friday, Hamas announced the names of the three captives scheduled for release from Gaza the next day as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel. The agreement was narrowly salvaged from collapse by mediators from Egypt and Qatar.

Hamas stated on Telegram that the three captives to be released include U.S.-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, and Yair Horn.

Egypt and Qatar intervened strongly to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire, which had been jeopardized by Hamas' initial announcement to delay the release of the next three captives due to Israeli violations. After a visit to Cairo for talks with Arab mediators, Hamas confirmed that it would continue to implement the ceasefire agreement and proceed with the release of captives as scheduled.

The ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S., went into effect on January 19, halting over 15 months of war that devastated Gaza and killed more than 48,000 Palestinians.

Under the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas have already exchanged 766 Palestinian prisoners and 21 captives—16 Israelis and 5 Thai nationals—through five previous prisoner swaps. Today’s release marks the sixth exchange.