GAZA CITY: A senior Hamas official said that a prisoner exchange with Israel could begin as early as Monday, marking the first tangible step under the recently brokered Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“The prisoner swap might start on Monday,” Mousa Abou Marzouq said in a televised interview, adding that Hamas would not militarize or publicly celebrate the handover of captives.
The first phase of the ceasefire, effective from 12:00 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) Friday, is part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan. According to documents published by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Hamas must release all living Israeli captives within 72 hours of Israel ratifying the agreement.
The deal also requires Hamas to share details on deceased captives with a joint mechanism involving Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Israeli estimates suggest 48 captives remain in Gaza — including about 20 believed alive — while more than 11,100 Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons, reportedly enduring torture, starvation, and medical neglect.
Ceasefire Implementation and Withdrawal Lines
Abou Marzouq said Israeli forces had withdrawn to what he described as the “yellow line,” but still occupied roughly 53% of Gaza’s territory.
“The withdrawal lines set by the occupation are inaccurate and drawn arbitrarily,” he said. “Hamas will not accept any future Israeli presence in areas it currently controls.”
He also disclosed that US troops had been deployed to monitor the ceasefire’s implementation — though they would remain stationed in Israel, not inside Gaza.
The next stage of the plan, he added, would focus on a “national project” and possible discussions over peacekeeping deployments in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian Unity and Political Future
Calling for a unified Palestinian front, Abou Marzouq urged the Palestinian Authority to convene a national meeting to decide on the way forward.
“Hamas accepted Trump’s ceasefire plan to safeguard the supreme interests of the Palestinian people,” he said. “The future of Palestine must be determined collectively — not by Hamas alone.”
Under Trump’s peace roadmap, the second phase envisions a new governing mechanism in Gaza excluding Hamas, the disarmament of its fighters, and the creation of a joint security force comprising Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic nations.
Since Israel’s campaign began in October 2023, nearly 67,200 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have been killed, with the enclave left in ruins and deemed uninhabitable by UN agencies.
