Hamas frees three more Israeli hostages amid fragile Gaza truce

Israel on Saturday released 183 Palestinian prisoners after Hamas militants handed over three Israeli hostages as part of the fifth exchange under a fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Jubilant crowds in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv cheered as they watched live footage of the three hostages, flanked by masked gunmen, brought on stage in Deir el-Balah before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

But they were also shocked by the sight of three weak, emaciated men being forced into a staged interview.

"He looked like a skeleton. It was awful to see," Michal Cohen, mother-in-law of one of the hostages, Ohad Ben Ami, told Channel 13 News as she watched the Hamas-directed handover ceremony.

"The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Briefly after receiving the three hostages, Israel completed the planned release of Palestinian prisoners - some convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people including 18 serving life sentences and 111 detained in Gaza during the war - according to Hamas.

The exchange is the latest in a series of swaps that have now returned 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages, abducted during the Hamas attack, and released 766 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Despite hiccups, a 42-day ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange worked out, with U.S. backing and mediation by Egypt and Qatar, has held up since it took effect nearly three weeks ago.

But fears that the deal might collapse before all the hostages are free have grown since U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise call for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and for the enclave to be handed to the United States and developed into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

Arab states and Palestinian groups have rejected the proposal, which critics said would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Netanyahu, however, welcomed Trump's intervention and his defense minister ordered the military to make plans to allow Palestinians who wished to leave Gaza to do so.

Under the ceasefire deal, 33 Israeli children, women and sick, wounded and older men are to be released during an initial phase in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Negotiations on a second phase began this week aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing on a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation for a final end to the war.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

In response, Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated much of the narrow enclave.

(With input from AFP, Reuters)