Gaza ceasefire live: aid relief scaled up as Hamas confirms it will begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning | Gaza
Aid deliveries increased as Hamas confirmed it would begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning
A senior official from the Palestinian militant group told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that while the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues, Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza tomorrow morning.
The Israeli army said it has completed the first phase of its withdrawal from Gaza, following a ceasefire that came into effect on Friday morning, mediated by the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye.
Under its terms, Hamas has until 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Monday to release all 20 living hostages. This will be in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange will begin on Monday morning as agreed,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP.
US president, Donald Trumpand his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-SisiHe will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon.
The Egyptian presidency said the agreement would aim to “end the war in the Gaza Strip, increase efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability.”
The developments come as aid groups in Gaza, some of which have suffered famine conditions and starvation due to Israel’s refusal and obstruction of humanitarian aid from entering the area, have begun to step up their relief efforts.
There are reports that aid trucks arrived at southern Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt this morning.
According to the first phase of the agreement, aid is planned to reach Gaza, and humanitarian groups are preparing to send approximately 600 truckloads of food and medical supplies per day.
We will have more information on this later. Stay with us throughout the day as we provide the latest updates and analysis on how the terms of the ceasefire plan are unfolding on the ground.
important events
While the ceasefire continues, Palestinian people continue to return to destroyed neighborhoods
The number of Palestinians is increasing, many of whom have been displaced several times during the Israeli offensive. Gaza City and in the north of the area where the ceasefire with Israel continues.
They are mostly reduced to rubble as sustained Israeli airstrikes have destroyed much of Gaza’s property and infrastructure over the past two years.
More than 500,000 Palestinians returned to Gaza City by Saturday evening, according to the Gaza civil defense agency.
“We walked for hours and every step towards my house was filled with fear and anxiety,” Raja Salmi, 52, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
When it reaches al-Rimal neighborhoodHe saw that his house was completely destroyed. “I stood in front of him and cried. All those memories are now dust,” he said.
Nearly half a million Palestinians living in northern Gaza were displaced by Israel’s latest military offensive on Gaza City, and many were eager to return home.
Thousands flee crowded coastline south of Gaza al-Mawasi as my colleagues noted in this story, traveling inland towards the partially ruined city of Khan Younis in the south.
As we noted in the opening summary, Israel is expected to release approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving long prison sentences for serious security crimes.
In return, Hamas is expected to release 20 live hostages and then return the bodies of the 28 dead hostages.
On Friday, the Israeli justice ministry released the names of 250 prisoners to be released, but the names of some high-profile prisoners were excluded. Mervan Barghouti And Ahmed Saadat.
Israel considers Barghouti a terrorist leader. He is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted of attacks that killed five people in Israel in 2004.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that he had refused Barghouti’s release.
Barghouti is one of the senior figures of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. conquest movement He is extremely popular in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and is often talked about as a future leader.
Saadat became general secretary Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for over twenty years.
He was accused of organizing the 2001 assassination of ultranationalist Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, who had called for the mass deportation of Palestinian people.
Saadat and four PFLP activists directly involved in the murder were eventually arrested by Palestinian police. In April 2002, an interim court sentenced the four men to prison terms ranging from one to 18 years. While Palestinian officials said at the time that they did not believe Saadat was involved in the murder, Saadat was not charged.
That year, he was transferred to a Palestinian prison in the West Bank city of Jericho under an internationally brokered agreement. In 2006, fearing he might be released, Israel raided the prison and detained him and other Palestinians. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2008. He is now in his early 70s.
Aid deliveries increased as Hamas confirmed it would begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning
A senior official from the Palestinian militant group told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that while the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues, Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza tomorrow morning.
The Israeli army said it has completed the first phase of its withdrawal from Gaza, following a ceasefire that came into effect on Friday morning, mediated by the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye.
Under its terms, Hamas has until 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Monday to release all 20 living hostages. This will be in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange will begin on Monday morning as agreed,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP.
US president, Donald Trumpand his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-SisiHe will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon.
The Egyptian presidency said the agreement would aim to “end the war in the Gaza Strip, increase efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability.”
The developments come as aid groups in Gaza, some of which have suffered famine conditions and starvation due to Israel’s refusal and obstruction of humanitarian aid from entering the area, have begun to step up their relief efforts.
There are reports that aid trucks arrived at southern Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt this morning.
According to the first phase of the agreement, aid is planned to reach Gaza, and humanitarian groups are preparing to send approximately 600 truckloads of food and medical supplies per day.
We will have more information on this later. Stay with us throughout the day as we provide the latest updates and analysis on how the terms of the ceasefire plan are unfolding on the ground.
