Israel had received three hostages on February 15 who were held captive by Hamas in Gaza for nearly 500 days. The freed hostages—U.S. citizen Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, Alexander Sasha Troufanov, 29, and Iair Horn, 46—were released as part of the hostage-prisoner exchange deal under the ceasefire truce that began on January 19, 2025. However, Horn’s