Three Israeli hostages have been freed by masked armed Hamas militants in Gaza ahead of the expected release of 183 Palestinian prisoners, international media reported Saturday.

The release of Ohad Ben Ami, 56, Eli Sharabi, 52, and Or Levy, 34, was the fifth prisoners’ swap under the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group responsible for the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 that killed 1,139 people and took more than 200 hostage.

The release was delay as Hamas accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by preventing humanitarian aid and other key supplies from entering Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.

A CNN broadcast of the release saw Levy, Ami and Sharabi led to a stage one by one by Hamas fighters as mediamen took photos of them while Palestinian observers watch from a distance from a location in Deir-el Balah in central Gaza.

The captives were later turned over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross for transfer to Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

CNN reported later the arrival of the captives in Israel.

The presentation of the hostage by Hamas fighters was a show of defiance, strength and victory by the group against Israel’s war on them that leveled Gaza and killed more than 45,000 people, according to CNN.

In Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square,” hundreds watched the parade of the three hostages and their handover from a huge screen.

The swap comes after United States President Donald Trump angered Hamas by proposing to clear out the Gaza Strip of its inhabitants and for the US to take over the Palestinian territory.

Sharabi was at his home in kibbutz Beeri with his British-born wife and their two daughters when Hamas stormed it.

The armed men shot their dog, before locking the family in their safe room and setting it on fire. The bodies of his wife and two daughters were later identified.

Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where gunmen murdered his wife. Ben Ami, who has dual Israeli-German citizenship, turned 56 in captivity.

Former hostage Yarden Bibas, who was freed last week by Hamas militants in Gaza, on Friday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help bring back his wife and two children from the Palestinian territory.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’m now addressing you with my own words... bring my family back, bring my friends back, bring everyone home,” Bibas said in his first public message following his release.

Hamas previously said his wife Shiri and his two sons Ariel and Kfir — the youngest hostages — were dead, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths.