KEY POINTS
- Truce between Israel and Hamas entered its third day ahead of the hostage-prisoner exchange.
- Israel expects Hamas to free 20 living and 28 dead hostages early Monday.
- Israel to release 250 prisoners, 1,700 Gaza detainees, and 22 minors once hostages cross into Israel.
- Trump to co-chair the Sharm El Sheikh peace summit on Monday.
- Thousands of Palestinians returned to northern Gaza amid massive destruction.
GAZA CITY/CAIRO: A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third consecutive day on Sunday, ahead of the expected exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and an address by US President Donald Trump to Israel’s parliament.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards their ruined homes in Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hopeful that the ceasefire would bring an end to the Israeli bombardment campaign.
“There is a lot of joy among the people,” said Abdou Abu Seada, adding that the joy was tempered by exhaustion after two years of the relentless bombardment campaign that has destroyed much of Gaza.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said that Israel expected the hostages to start being released early Monday morning, with the 20 living hostages to be released together.
In the event that hostages were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said.
Their release is to be followed later by the handover of the bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages.
Trump to address Israeli parliament
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on October 7, 2023.
Israel’s hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch on Thursday said a task force would be formed to help find the remains of any dead hostages that Hamas could not locate.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Monday to address the Knesset, the parliament, before travelling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt to join world leaders for a peace summit on ending the Gaza war.
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, mediated what has been described as a first-phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.
Gazans return amid devastation
The Israel Prison Service said it had transferred some Palestinian prisoners to other facilities ahead of their expected release.
The Israeli Ministry of Justice has released the names of 250 Palestinians who are to be freed under the deal.
The list does not include senior Hamas commanders that the Palestinian group had sought to free, or prominent figures from other factions such as Marwan Al Barghouti or Ahmed Saadat.
Although that was not expected to derail the agreement, Hamas’ prisoners’ information office said that talks with Israeli mediators over the list of prisoners to be freed were ongoing.
Israel is also to release 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and 22 Palestinian minors, along with the bodies of 360 Palestinian fighters.
Israeli government spokesperson Bedrosian said the prisoners would be released once the living hostages reach Israeli territory.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that once the hostages were returned, the military would destroy underground tunnels in Gaza.
Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have described widespread devastation.
Rescue workers warned there could be unexploded ordnance and bombs in the area.
Amjad Al Shawa, who heads a Palestinian organisation coordinating with aid groups, estimated 300,000 tents were needed to temporarily house 1.5 million displaced Gazans.
“We couldn’t believe the destruction we have seen,” Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, said by phone after walking 15 km with his son from Deir Al Balah to Gaza City.
“We are joyful to return to Gaza (City) but at the same time we have bitter feelings about the destruction,” he said, describing seeing human remains scattered along roads.
