An American Israeli hostageman shared a loving embrace with his wife after almost 500 days apart after his release from captivity under Hamas.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, was seen on Saturday in heart-warming images that embraced his wife Avital and his parents as he celebrated his freedom.
He was held hostage by Hamas during the attack of the terror group on October 7, 2023, and his wife gave birth to their third daughter for two months in his imprisonment.
“Our hearts hurt everything he has missed, but now he is here, unlike many others,” said the Van Dekel-Chen family in a statement.
The Associated Press reported that Dekel-Chen seemed to be limping when he left a stage during the transfer ceremony in Khan Younis in the destroyed Gaza Strip, where dozens of masked, armed Hamas hunters were near the stage.
He was accompanied by two other men, Alexander 'Sasha' Troufanov, 29, and IIIr Horn, 46, in the release, who came after President Trump threatened to “unleash hell” on Hamas if they don't continue to free hostages.
In exchange for the release of the men, Israel freed 369 Palestinian hostages and prisoners, including 36 convicted of participating in the attacks of 7 October.
Saturday's hostage was the sixth because a ceasefire -the fire between Israel and Hamas came into force on January 19.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, was seen on Saturday in heart-warming images that embrace his wife Avital after almost 500 days apart after his release of captivity under Hamas
Sagui Dekel-Chen (left) seen with fellow hosier Alexander 'Sasha' Troufanov during a transfer in the Gaza Strip on Saturday
When Israel returned the 369 prisoners in exchange on Saturday, four were reportedly taken to the hospital for immediate treatment.
The exchange comes just a few days after Hamas got astonishingly out about Donald Trump's threat to 'let hell break out' if the terror group does not bring back all remaining Israeli hostages.
A Hamas spokesperson said there was no place for the language of threats ” – about 14 months after the terror group had slaughtered more than 1,100 Israelis during the raid of October 7, while he also kidnapped and raped hundreds.
On Monday evening, the group also claimed that Israel had violated the -fire agreement that had been agreed last month.
Trump told reporters on Monday evening late that, although the decision is ultimately on Israel's shoulders, 'As far as I am concerned, if all hostages are not sent back by Saturday 12 pm – I think it is a suitable moment – I would say that it can be canceled and All bets are switched off and let hell break out '.
The exchange came after President Trump threatened to “unleash hell” on Hamas if they don't continue to free hostages
Hamas hunters accompany Israeli hostage or tax on a stage before handing him to a Red Cross team in Deir El-Balah, Central Gaza, on 8 February 2025, as part of the fifth hostage-prisoner exchange of a fragile ceasefire
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior spokesperson for the terror group that is known for his tight stranglehold about the Gaza Strip, claimed courageously that Trump's comments did nothing but to make negotiations before the end of the war harder.
“The language of threats has no value and makes things difficult,” Zuhri noted.
He added that Trump had to remember that there is an agreement to be respected by both parties and this is the only way to give the prisoners back. “
As part of the Stako -Fire Agreement, Hamas promised 33 to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the hostilities.
On Tuesday morning, an older Israeli man was hostage by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, declared dead by his Kibbutz.
Hamas claimed that Israel had violated the -fire agreement agreed last month
'With heavy hearts, the members of the Kibbutz, this morning we received the news about the murder of Our Lieve Vriend, Shlomo Mansour, 86 years old, who was abducted from his house in Kibbutz Kissufim during the Hamas Terror Attack on October 7, 2023, “said the community about Israeli born in Iraqi.
The Israeli army said on Tuesday in a statement that the “decision to confirm that his death was based on information collected in recent months.”
Mansour, one of the founders of Kibbutz Kissufim, was abducted from a chicken coop during the Hamas attack on South Israel. His wife Mazal Mansour, with whom he lived for 60 years, managed to escape the attack. The couple has five children.
“This is one of the most difficult days in the history of our Kibbutz,” the community said in a statement.
