Hamas-led militants released three male Israeli hostages on Saturday and Israeli forces began releasing hundreds of prisoners in return. This was the latest indication that a fragile ceasefire has paused fighting in the Gaza Strip but had teetered in recent days, is holding. Militants in the southern Gaza Strip paraded the three hostages—Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29— before a crowd before releasing them.

All had been abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community that was hard-hit in the October 7 2023, attack that ignited the war. They appeared pale and worn, but seemed in better physical condition than the three men released last Saturday, who had emerged emaciated after 16 months of captivity. The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardised in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting. US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire.