Three male Israeli hostages, including one American-Israeli citizen, will return home on Saturday as Israel and Hamas continue their cease-fire agreement.
Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, 29, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Yair Horn, 46, were all kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a village near the Gaza border that was attacked by roughly 150 terrorists from three directions. About a quarter of the kibbutzim’s 400 citizens were either killed or taken hostage.
In exchange for the three men, Hamas demanded that Israel release 369 Palestinian prisoners, including dozens who are serving life sentences.
The morning of the Hamas attack, Dekel-Chen helped notify the kibbutz about the presence of terrorists, checked that his wife, Avital, and children were secure, then joined the kibbutz security team to fight off Hamas. He was taken captive in the mid-morning.
“My daughter-in-law and the kids are now traumatized,” Dekel-Chen’s father, Jonathan, a Hebrew University professor, said. “Avital heard her husband struggling in hand-to-hand combat.”
Avital gave birth to the couple’s third child, a girl named Shachar Mazal, in December 2023 — weeks after Dekel-Chen was taken. Saturday is the first time the girl will meet her father. In a letter published on Shachar’s first birthday, Avital wrote that “I wish for you soon to be in Daddy’s arms, arms that will hug you and hold you tight.”
“You and your big sister, Bar, spoke words I will never forget,” she wrote in the letter. “One night, just before going to sleep, Bar took your hand and said to you, ‘Shachar, I really hope you’ll meet your father,’ and that is how she fell asleep. It is not something one sister should ever have to say to another, especially a 6-year-old to a 2-month-old.”
Horn was taken from the kibbutz along with his brother Eitan, 37, who remains in captivity. Troufanov was taken alongside his mother, grandmother, and girlfriend, all of whom were freed in the first hostage deal in November 2023.
Hamas wavered on the terms of the cease-fire this week, after accusing Israel of violating the agreement by not supplying sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza. Phase One, the current stage of the cease-fire, is supposed to see the release of 33 hostages, 16 of whom have already been released, over the span of 42 days.
President Donald Trump recommended this week that Israel cancel the ceasefire altogether and “let hell break out” if “all of the hostages” are not returned by Saturday.
Former hostage Keith Seigel, who was released from captivity in early February and is the only other American citizen to be released in the current ceasefire, said on Friday in a video that Hamas starved and tortured him.
“When I was in Gaza, I lived in constant fear, fear for my life and my personal safety,” Siegel said, thanking Trump for helping to facilitate the release of the hostages. “The terrorists kicked me, spat on me, and held me with no water, no light, and no air to breathe. I was starved and tortured, both physically and emotionally.”
Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Gadi and Judi Haggai, and Omer Neutra, are the five other Americans who remain in Gaza. Alexander is the only one believed to be alive.