Three Israeli hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza by Palestinian militants on Saturday, in the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal that came into effect last month.

Buses carrying some of the hundreds of Palestinian freed prisoners and detainees, some flashing victory signs as they hung from the windows.

Israelis expressed some relief as the three hostages — Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 29 — appeared to be in better condition than the emaciated hostages freed a week ago.