American, Russian, Argentine Hostages Released

In the sixth hostage exchange of the January 16 ceasefire set to expire March 1, three men kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz nearly 500 days ago were at last freed yesterday from Khan Younis, near the house where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed last year.

American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, is the grandson of Holocaust survivors. Just two months after he was taken captive, his wife Avital gave birth to their third daughter, now just over a year old.

Argentine-Israeli Yair Horn, 46, was kidnapped by Hamas together with his still-captive brother Eitan.

Russian-Israeli Alexandre “Sasha” Troufanov, 28, was abducted by the Islamic jihadist militant group Palestinian Al-Quds Brigades, who also took his mother Yelena Troufanov, Russian grandmother Irena Tati and girlfriend Sapir Cohen, All three women were released November 29-30, 2023, during a previous ceasefire.

In exchange, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including 36 serving life sentences.

Hamas-controlled Gaza is 99% Muslim. Already in this war, an estimated more than 48,000 Palestinians have died without ever hearing the good news about Christ, and thousands more are believed still buried beneath the rubble since the war began in October. 

To pray by name for the remaining hostages, see our regularly updated post on the Israel-Gaza page:

Pray for Israel, Gaza and Lebanon in These Trying Times

Father God, please have mercy. Make a way for the release of all those still held prisoner in Gaza. Bring down every terrorist group and release both Palestinians and Israelis from the oppression of Hamas. Please be intricately involved in the healing of these hostages who are now free, as well as other people who survived the massacres. Bring Christians to each of them to show them Your love and share with them Your good news. Provide Christian counselors, doctors and aid workers to help them to healing. Burn within them a deep desire to know the Truth who sets them free, the Messiah they have looked for, their Savior, Jesus. Give them dreams and visions to point them to You. Place Bibles in their hands. Lift the veil from their eyes and show them who You really are. Be near to the hostages still held in Gaza. Let them feel Your presence and hear Your voice speaking tenderly to them. Tend to all their needs, comfort them with Your love, and show them the way to salvation. Place Your angels around them as a shield, and make those heavenly hosts visible to the terrorists who guard them. Invade the dreams of every terrorist and show them the way to salvation. Make them so repulsed by the atrocities they have committed, appalled by the horrors of religion gone wrong, that they lay aside Islam and seek Jesus. Give hostages favor with their guards and give the guards courage to go against Hamas’ commands and do what is right and good. Father God, we ask You for miracles. Share with every Palestinian and every Hamas terrorist the good news that brings peace. Draw them up into Your arms to receive Christ as Savior before it’s too late. Awaken Gaza, awaken Israel, awaken Hamas, awaken every hostage, every survivor, every Palestinian, every Jew, every family to Your love. Don’t let even one more lost person die without hearing the good news of Your salvation.

Join us during Ramadan March 1-30, as we pray daily for Muslims and all nations to awaken to Christ’s love during 30 Days of Prayer for Global Awakening. For screen-free quiet times with God, order the full-color war room prayer book 30 Days of Prayer for Global Awakening, Vol 2, or enter your email below to get the daily posts delivered to your inbox:

Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:

For 30 Days of Prayer for Global Awakening, Vol 2, Dare to Be a Mighty Warrior, and other books for all ages on praying forth God’s purposes and breaking free from anxiety and other strongholds, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com

When you click on the above links to books I have authored, as a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I may receive a small commission for certain purchases.

All proceeds this author receives from book sales go to shining Light in dark places of the world.

Thank you for your support! If you’d like to know more about how you can help the Vincents’ ministry, please contact Mikaela.