Hamas to Begin Releasing Israeli Hostages as Trump's Middle East Peace Summit Approaches

The remains of an additional hostage, held in Gaza since 2014, are also anticipated to be returned.

Hamas will commence releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning, according to a senior official from the Palestinian militant group who spoke to AFP. This precedes US President Donald Trump's chairing of an international summit in Egypt regarding his peace plan for the region.

In the initial phase of the agreement, Hamas, whose deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 ignited the conflict, will release the captives—20 of whom Israel believes remain alive—in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

"According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is scheduled to begin on Monday morning as agreed," Hamas official Osama Hamdan stated in an interview with AFP on Saturday.

Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will subsequently chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon, as announced by the Egyptian presidency.

The meeting aims "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability," according to the announcement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has confirmed his attendance, along with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Miloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

There was no immediate confirmation regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attendance, while Hamas indicated it would not participate, having "acted principally through... Qatari and Egyptian mediators" during negotiations, according to Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran.

Despite the apparent breakthrough, mediators still face the challenging task of securing a longer-term political solution requiring Hamas to surrender weapons and relinquish governance of Gaza.

Badran noted that the second phase of Trump's plan "contains many complexities and difficulties," while another Hamas official, speaking anonymously, stated that disarmament was "out of the question."

Under Trump's plan, as Israel implements a phased withdrawal from Gaza's cities, a multinational force comprising Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates will replace them, coordinated by a US-led command center in Israel.

On Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were again in motion, returning to their devastated homes.

Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump's daughter Ivanka subsequently traveled to Tel Aviv to attend a gathering with families of remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, where crowds chanted "Thank you Trump."

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among approximately 20 hostages believed to still be alive, said: "We will continue to shout and fight until everyone is home."

"We finally feel hope, but we cannot and will not stop now," added Zairo Shachar Mohr Munder, whose uncle Abraham was abducted during the Hamas attack and whose body was recovered in August.

Hamas has until noon on Monday to hand over 47 remaining hostages—both living and deceased—from the 251 abducted in the attack two years ago, which resulted in 1,219 deaths, predominantly civilians.

The remains of one additional hostage, held in Gaza since 2014, are also expected to be returned.

In exchange, Israel will release 250 prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly anti-Israeli attacks, and 1,700 Gazans detained by the military since the war began.

The Israeli prison service announced Saturday that it had transferred the 250 national security detainees to two prisons in preparation for the handover.

By Saturday evening, over 500,000 Palestinians had returned to Gaza City, according to Gaza's civil defense agency, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority.

"We walked for hours, and every step was filled with fear and anxiety for my home," Raja Salmi, 52, told AFP.

Upon reaching the Al-Rimal neighborhood, she discovered her house completely destroyed.

"I stood before it and cried. All those memories are now just dust," she recounted.

Drone footage captured by AFP revealed entire city blocks reduced to a tangled mass of concrete and steel reinforcing wire.

The walls and windows of five-story apartment buildings had been torn away and now cluttered the roadsides as disheartened residents sifted through the rubble.

The UN's humanitarian office reports that Israel has permitted agencies to begin transporting 170,000 tons of aid into Gaza if the ceasefire holds.

Men, women, and children navigated rubble-filled streets, searching for homes amid collapsed concrete slabs, destroyed vehicles, and debris.

Sami Musa, 28, returned alone to check on his family's residence.

"Thank God... I found that our home is still standing," Musa told AFP.

"It felt like a ghost town, not Gaza," Musa remarked. "The smell of death still lingers in the air."

Israel's campaign in Gaza has claimed at least 67,682 lives, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

The data does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but indicates that over half of the deceased are women and children.