The last three Argentine-Israelis who remained as Hamas prisoners were among the 20 hostages released on Monday as part of the ceasefire with Israel brokered last week. Eitan Horn and the siblings David and Ariel Cunio were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and later transferred to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to be taken back to Israel.

While Hamas no longer holds any more living Israeli prisoners, it still has the bodies of 28 dead hostages that the ceasefire mandates be handed back to Israel. According to Israeli media, however, only four are scheduled to be delivered on Monday, as Hamas said it would have “difficulties” in locating them all. One of them is Argentine-Israeli Lior Rudaeff, a 61-year-old ambulance driver killed in the October 7, 2023, attack. Hamas took his body to Gaza and only confirmed his death in May of last year.

Monday’s release was conducted in two groups, with an initial contingent of 7 prisoners transferred to the Red Cross. Horn and the Cunio brothers were among the 13 hostages released in the second group. According to the IDF, the three men were airlifted and taken to a hospital to undergo a medical evaluation before being reunited with their families in southern Israel.

The Hamas-Israel ceasefire, brokered by United States President Donald Trump, provides for a prisoner exchange. In exchange for the hostages, Israel will release 1,968 Palestinian detainees, 154 of whom will be deported outside the country. In addition, 1,718 prisoners inside Gaza will also be released.

Trump arrived in Israel on Monday morning and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and relatives of the hostages in the Israeli Parliament.

Who are the Argentine-Israeli hostages

Eitan Horn, 39, was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, alongside his brother Iair, who was released in February this year. Israeli media outlets later published an image of Iair alongside his family shortly after his release, holding a whiteboard on which he had written, “Eitan, you’re next!”

In March 2025, a video released by Hamas showed the two brothers hugging before they were separated. According to family members, Eitan suffers from a life-threatening skin disease and did not receive enough medication or water during his captivity.

David Cunio, a 33-year-old actor, was captured along with his wife and twin daughters, who were released in November 2023. Ariel, 26, was kidnapped along with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud, who was released last January. The Cunio brothers were born in Israel, but their parents are Argentine. José Luis and Silvia arrived in the Middle East in 1986.

-With information from Ámbito