Authorities in Israel and Gaza are preparing for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners ahead of a Monday deadline for the swap stipulated in the ceasefire deal that could end the two-year war in Gaza.
Hamas is meant to release all living hostages from Gaza within 72 hours of the signing of the deal – a deadline that ends at noon local time (10am UK time).
Israel will also release nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, the vast majority of whom will be sent to Gaza or exiled to neighbouring countries, once Israeli hostages are back on Israeli soil.
Roughly 2,000 Palestinian detainees are due to be let out around the same time as the hostages are released.
About 1,700 were detainees from Gaza, while 250 were longtime prisoners of Israel, among them Palestinian leaders.
According to the ceasefire agreement that could put an end to the two-year conflict in Gaza, authorities in Israel and Gaza are getting ready to release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Monday.
All surviving hostages in Gaza must be released by Hamas within 72 hours of the agreement being signed; this deadline is set for noon local time (10 a.m. UK time). There are 48 hostages held by the militant group, 20 of whom are thought to be still alive.
It is anticipated that all of the hostages who are still alive will be freed simultaneously early on Monday morning, according to a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office. Living hostages have been gathered in Gaza, according to an unnamed Hamas official who told Al Jazeera that the militant organization would convene on Sunday evening to decide how to proceed with their release.
The remains of hostages who were not freed on Monday will be located by an international taskforce; many are thought to be buried beneath the debris in the devastated Gaza Strip.
When Israeli hostages return to Israeli territory, Israel will also free almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, the great majority of whom will be sent to Gaza or exiled to neighboring countries.
The list of Palestinians to be released did not include a number of Hamas commanders, well-known Palestinian political figures, and imprisoned medical professionals whose releases were demanded by Hamas. Hussam Abu Safiya and Marwan al-Hams, two physicians who were imprisoned in Gaza during the conflict, were not included in the list.
According to Hamas, negotiations to secure their release are still ongoing with Israeli negotiators.
In addition to meeting with the hostage families, US President Donald Trump will travel to Jerusalem on Monday to address the Knesset at around the same time as the hostage-detainee exchange.
Trump will then take a plane to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he will co-chair a “peace summit” with the leaders of over 20 nations to finalize a long-term ceasefire in Gaza.
Trump stated he expected a ceasefire to continue, despite the deal’s uncertain future. At the White House, he told reporters, “They’re all tired of the fighting,” and that there was “consensus” to move forward.
The first step in Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza is the exchange of hostages for detainees. Although a ceasefire has been in effect since Friday afternoon, a permanent end to the war cannot be established until the majority of the Trump plan’s details are negotiated.
After two years of an Israeli campaign that leveled most of the Gaza Strip, killed over 67,000 Palestinians, and injured roughly 170,000 more, Palestinians are eager for the ceasefire to continue into a permanent end to the conflict. A UN inquiry commission and multiple human rights organizations have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel disputes the allegation of genocide and claims that its actions during the conflict, which was started in retaliation for an attack by militants led by Hamas that claimed roughly 1,200 lives and took 251 hostages, constituted self-defense.
Preparations for the hostages’ arrival in Israel were underway. They will be examined at a military base before being transported to hospitals, which have practiced evacuation drills with actors in place of the hostages.
Hagai Angrest, whose son Matan is one of the 20 hostages still being held in Gaza, told Reuters, “We are very excited, waiting for our son and for all the 48 hostages.”.
When Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff spoke on Sunday night, tens of thousands of people applauded in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages sq\..”.
This night appeared in my dream. “It has been an arduous journey,” Witkoff remarked. The audience applauded Trump while jeering when Witkoff brought up Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the occupied West Bank, families also got ready to welcome loved ones who were being released from Israeli prisons. Families were warned by Israeli authorities to limit their interactions with the media and to refrain from being overt in their celebrations.
Around the same time as the hostages are released, about 2,000 Palestinian detainees are scheduled to be released. Of the approximately 1,700 detainees from Gaza, 250 were Israeli prisoners of war, including Palestinian leaders. The other half of the 250 will be released to the West Bank or East Jerusalem, while the other half will be released to Gaza or exiled to neighboring countries.
As the hostage exchange was being planned, aid organizations prepared to send supplies into Gaza.
Beginning Sunday, Cogat, the Israeli military organization in charge of managing humanitarian aid in Gaza, predicted that roughly 600 trucks would arrive daily. After months of severely limiting aid into the strip, this would bring aid back to levels similar to those before the war.
About 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies are prepared to enter Gaza once Israel allows it to do so, according to the UN. Priority aid items included tents, high-energy food for undernourished children, and supplies for menstrual hygiene.
Roads were being cleaned and fixed on Sunday to make it easier to deliver aid in the future, according to Abeer Etefa, a World Food Programme spokesperson.
According to the world’s foremost expert on food crises, the resumption of aid comes after months of an Israeli siege of Gaza that caused famine in some communities. Over the last two years, starvation has spread throughout the region since May, and at least 459 people have perished from hunger.
The Trump plan calls for regular aid to be restored. After being prohibited by Israel for months, the UN will once more organize supplies into Gaza.
It was unclear how the private Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was supposed to take the place of the UN in distributing aid in Gaza, would function. After the ceasefire agreement was signed, the foundation’s logistics facilities in Gaza ceased operations.
Many people believed that the GHF was a failure because of its distribution model, which was characterized by overcrowding and fatalities. Aid groups claimed that the foundation’s militarized model of provision was to blame for the chaos that resulted in over 1,000 people being shot dead by Israeli soldiers during the daily rush to get food at the GHF sites. Any wrongdoing was consistently denied by the GHF.
While aid sites were temporarily closed during the hostage transfers, a GHF spokesperson told Reuters that there was “no change to our long-term plan.”.
To support the establishment of a taskforce to aid in Gaza’s stabilization efforts, the United States will send up to 200 troops to Israel. The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), a taskforce, will receive guidance from Israel; however, no US troops will be stationed in Gaza.
While in Gaza with Witkoff and Kushner, Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, met with Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir. Cooper stated that the CMCC’s formation was the reason for his visit.
