Israel and Hamas complete latest exchange of hostages and prisoners

The hostages are escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Israel and Hamas completed the sixth exchange of hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, with just over two weeks remaining in the initial phase of their fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Israelis expressed 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 ones freed a week ago.