Israeli-born Iair Horn, Russian-Israeli Alexander Trufanov and Sagui Dekel-Chen, of American descent, are the three hostages that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas confirmed on Friday that it will release tomorrow in the Gaza Strip.
Horn, born 46 years ago in Argentina, immigrated to Israel with his brother Eitan and settled in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Both were captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, but Eitan is not included in Saturday's exchange, the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons said in a statement today.
The forum, which represents most of the relatives of those abducted on October 7, said that Yair Horn is known for organizing parties at religious celebrations, managing the kibbutz bar and being a loyal supporter of the Be'er Sheva football club.
“Friends and family describe him as someone who loves life and is closely tied to his family and the kibbutz community.”, the group said.
Trufanov, 29, also lived in Nir Oz and was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from his home along with his mother, grandmother and girlfriend, while his father, Vitaly, was killed in the attack by the Islamist group.
The three women were released during the previous truce, in November 2023.
His girlfriend, Sapir Cohen said she remembers seeing gunmen taking Trufanov away, whose last words to her were “no, no,” according to the Families Forum. In May 2024, the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad published a video of the Russian-Israeli and another in November of that same year.
Trufanov's family emigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union 25 years ago and he worked as an engineer in Amazon's cloud division.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, was working in his workshop in Nir Oz when the Hamas attack occurred and, after leading his family to a safe room, confronted the attackers and was taken hostage.
Two months later, his wife, Avital gave birth to her third daughter, who still does not know her father.
Founder of the Bikurim youth group and an avid tennis player, Dekel-Chen is an entrepreneur in business and social causes, according to the Family Forum.
The exchange of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails will be the sixth since the ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19 in Gaza.
Hamas said earlier this week that it might put the release of the hostages on hold, but confirmed yesterday that it would go ahead with the exchange. Israel has yet to respond to the terrorist group's announcement, merely reporting that it has received the list containing the names of the three hostages.
So far, the ceasefire agreement has already led to the release of 16 Israelis, five Thai hostages and more than XNUMX Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails.