Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with acting Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya and two other leaders of the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group in Tehran on February 8, Iranian state media reported.
The reports quoted Khamenei as saying the people of Gaza had defeated Israel and the United States in the recent conflict and photos were posted of Khamenei meeting Hayya, Muhammad Darwish, the head of Hamas's leadership council, and senior Hamas official Nizar Awadallah.
SEE ALSO: Diminished Hamas Remains Dominant In Gaza Despite Israel WarIran supports Hamas in its war with Israel and views the Palestinian group as a key ally in its broader strategy to oppose Israeli and Western influence in the Middle East.
The West accuses Tehran of fomenting extremist violence in the region through the use of proxies, such as Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah, also listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and other countries.
The meeting came on the same day that Hamas freed three more Israeli hostages taken in an October 2023 attack on Israel.
Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben-Ami, 56, and Or Levi, 34, were first handed over to the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military. The hostages had been in captivity for 491 days.
Before they were handed over to the Red Cross, the hostages -- looking pale and exhausted -- were paraded on a stage before a crowd in Gaza by Hamas members, a move that Israel condemned.
"The shocking images we saw today will not pass without response," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
The hospital treating the released hostages said Levy and Sharabi were in a "poor medical condition" and that Ben-Ami was in a "severe nutritional state."
The Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group called the images "disturbing" and show that "we must get them all out."
"Our hearts tremble and our minds struggle to comprehend the sight of Or, who has returned to us in such a devastating state. His face bears witness to the hell he endured during 491 days in the hands of Hamas monsters," a statement by the Levy family stated.
With the latest returns, 73 out of the 251 hostages taken during the October 2023 attack still remain in Gaza. The Israeli military has said 34 of those taken are now dead.
SEE ALSO: Why Trump's Gaza Takeover Proposal Has Drawn Strong Reactions WorldwideIn exchange for the released hostages, Israel is set to free 183 Palestinian prisoners, 18 of whom were sentenced to life in prison.
Israeli authorities on February 8 began the process of this prisoner release, freeing dozens of Palestinians from incarceration.
The truce and the hostage release, agreed on January 15 after months of negotiations, is the first step in a multistage process aimed at ending the 15-month conflict in Gaza.
SEE ALSO: How The Israel-Hamas War Reshaped The Middle EastThe conflict broke out when Iran-backed Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.
Israel retaliated by launching a devastating war in the Palestinian enclave that has killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.