CAIRO (AP) – Israelis on Monday prepared to bring home the last 20 living hostages of a devastated country. Gaza And we mourn the return of the dead by exchanging the key to the breakthrough. ceasefire After two years of war.
Palestinians were awaiting the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. US President Donald Trump is arrive in the area together with other leaders, Agreement proposed by the United States and postwar plans. A surge in humanitarian aid was expected. suffered from hunger Gaza has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
Although big questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners was an important step towards ending the worst war in history between Israel and the extremist group.
A living hostage is expected first.
Israel’s major television stations were running special nightly broadcasts ahead of the hostages’ release amid heightened anticipation. Before dawn, people began to gather near a large screen in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.
The return of the hostages concludes a painful chapter for Israel. Since their capture in the October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, news programs have documented their captivity and Israelis have worn yellow pins and ribbons in solidarity. Tens of thousands of people, along with their families, have taken part in weekly demonstrations demanding their release.
As the war dragged on, demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet for political purposes, even as they denounced Hamas’s intransigence. Last week, following intense international pressure, Israel’s isolation deepensthe adversaries agreed to a ceasefire.
The release of the hostages effectively ends the war tensions for many Israelis.
Israel expects all 20 living hostages to be released en masse on Monday. They will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military, who will take them to Reims military base to be reunited with their families.
It is unlikely that the remains of up to 28 other hostages will be returned at the same time. Israel’s Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsh, said an international special commission would work to find dead hostages who were not returned within 72 hours.
No date has been announced for the release of the Palestinian prisoners. These include 1,700 people seized from Gaza during the war and detained without charge, as well as 250 people convicted of attacks on Israelis and serving life sentences. They will likely be sent back to the West Bank or Gaza, or sent into exile.
Israel considers the prisoners to be terrorists, but Palestinians see them as freedom fighters against Israeli occupation. Israel has warned Palestinians in the West Bank not to hold post-release celebrations, according to families of prisoners and Palestinian officials familiar with the plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
President Trump in Israel and Egypt
President Trump is making his first visit to Israel, and the White House schedule calls for him to meet with hostage families and address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Vice President J.D. Vance said President Trump is likely to meet with the newly freed hostages.
“The war is over,” President Trump assured reporters upon his departure, adding that he believed the ceasefire would remain in place.
President Trump will continue to visit Egypt, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office announced that he will co-chair a “peace summit” with regional and international leaders on Monday.
Mahmoud AbbasAbbas, the leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, will be in attendance, Mahmoud al-Habash, a judge and Abbas adviser, told The Associated Press. Netanyahu has refused to allow Abbas to play any role in postwar Gaza, but the U.S. plan leaves open the possibility that his Palestinian Authority would be reformed. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
Other key issues in the ceasefire agreement remain unresolved, including the future governance of Gaza and who will pay for the $1 billion reconstruction process. israel wants Ensure the disarmament of a weakened HamasAnd Netanyahu warned that Israel could do it “the hard way.” Hamas refuses to disarm and wants Israel to completely withdraw its troops from Gaza.
Israeli forces have withdrawn from most of Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis. Troops remain in large parts of the southern city of Rafah, towns in Gaza’s far north, and large areas along Gaza’s border with Israel.
Under the U.S. plan, an international body would govern Gaza and oversee Palestinian technocrats who run day-to-day operations. Hamas said the government in Gaza should be built among Palestinians.
The plan calls for Arab-led international security forces to be sent to Gaza, along with Egyptian and Jordanian-trained Palestinian police. He said Israeli forces would leave the area following the deployment. Approximately 200 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.
The plan also mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, another non-starter for Netanyahu.
“Most of Gaza is wasteland.”
The United Nations said it had so far approved 190,000 tonnes of aid for Israel to enter Gaza, which has been besieged since ending a previous ceasefire in March.
This was announced by the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip. amount of aid coming in It was expected to increase to about 600 trucks per day on Sunday, as stipulated in the agreement.
“Most of Gaza is a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told The Associated Press on Sunday. He said the United Nations had a plan for the next two months to restore basic medical and other services, bring in thousands of tonnes of food and fuel and remove debris.
two years of war
The war started Hamas-led militants launch surprise attack on southern Israel On October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in subsequent Israeli attacks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but says about half of the dead were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimates of wartime casualties.
The death toll is likely to rise further as the fighting pulls bodies from previously inaccessible rubble.
The war destroyed large swathes of Gaza and displaced approximately 90% of its 2 million inhabitants. It has also sparked other conflicts in the region and sparked protests around the world. suspicion of genocide Israel denies it.
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Federman reported from Truro, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Bassem Mourou in Beirut and Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank contributed to this report.
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