It is believed that at least two of the six American hostages still held in Gaza are alive — Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and Edan Alexander, 19, from Tenafly, New Jersey. Four other Americans are believed to have been killed in captivity.

In highly staged ceremonies, Hamas freed three people held captive over the last 15 months. Keeping to its part of the cease-fire deal, Israel released 183 Palestinians held in jails.

Hamas-led militants have freed three more hostages from the Gaza Strip after more than 15 months in captivity.