Senior leader confirms release from Monday ahead of Gaza ceasefire deadline
If the group meets the noon deadline, Israel is expected to release up to 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners under the terms of a ceasefire agreed in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
Families of the hostages gathered with 500,000 people in Tel Aviv on Saturday to prepare for the release of the last 48 hostages, but described the pain of receiving the bodies of those who died in captivity. About 20 people are said to be still alive.
Ivanka Trump speaks at a rally in Israel. Credit: Getty Images
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff spoke at the rally, which was also attended by Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who was part of the team that negotiated the peace agreement.
Michel Illouz, the father of one of the kidnapped people, said, “This week we will all see the sights we have only dreamed of, meet the people we have been waiting for, and embrace the hugs we miss so much.”
“We will all cry this week too, we will cry upon the return of the deceased, we will mourn and bury our children.”
His son Guy was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and was injured by gunfire. According to other hostages who were later released, he died in captivity.
A man wearing a Donald Trump mask holds a sign supporting the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize in Tel Aviv.Credit: access point
US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper confirmed on Saturday that US troops had begun arriving in the region to monitor the ceasefire.
“This great effort will be achieved by landing US boots on the ground in Gaza,” he said.
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Thousands of Palestinians marched to their former homes in areas occupied by Israeli forces before withdrawing, but aid groups warned they were in dire need of food, water and shelter.
“Thank God my house is still standing,” Ismail Zayda, 40, told Reuters in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district.
“But this place was destroyed, my neighbors’ houses were destroyed, entire neighborhoods were gone.”
Ahmed al-Brim, a middle-aged man in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, told Reuters his area had been destroyed.
“We went to our area. It was destroyed. We don’t know where to go next,” he said. “We couldn’t buy furniture, clothes, even winter clothes. There was nothing left.”
The BBC reported that armed Hamas troops began returning to some areas, either in civilian clothes or in the blue uniforms of the Gaza police.
Displaced Palestinians pass demolished buildings as they return to their homes in Khan Younis on Friday.Credit: access point
It cited a mobilization order sent via phone calls and text messages to Hamas fighters who were expected to return to areas previously held by Israeli forces.
The statement said, “We are declaring general mobilization in response to the call of our national and religious duty to clear Gaza of outlaws and Israeli collaborators.” “You need to come to the designated places within 24 hours using your official codes.”
