Hamas has announced that it has completed preparations to release the remaining hostages, a move expected to take place early Monday morning, followed by a major peace summit in Egypt hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump. The release of hostages is considered a key step in Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan.
According to the U.S. proposal, once Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU — releases the hostages, Israel is expected to begin freeing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
However, negotiators were still discussing final details of the agreement on Sunday. Two Hamas officials told AFP that the group insists Israel include seven senior Palestinian leaders on the list of prisoners to be freed.
Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the release will begin early Monday morning and that Israel expects “all 20 of our living hostages to be released together.”
According to Hamas sources, the group is ready to hand over all 47 hostages — both living and deceased — who were captured during the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack, in which 1,219 people were killed, sparking Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza. The deal also includes the return of the remains of an Israeli soldier killed during the 2014 war.
Among the prisoners to be freed, 250 were detained for security-related offenses — many convicted of killing Israelis — while around 1,700 were arrested during the current conflict in Gaza.
After the hostage release, President Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel, address the Knesset, and then travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he will host a global peace summit aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war and promoting Middle East stability.
The Egyptian presidency confirmed that the summit will bring together leaders from over 20 countries with the goal of “ending the war in Gaza, advancing peace and stability in the Middle East, and ushering in a new era of regional security.”
Among the confirmed attendees are UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Officials from Israel and Hamas will not attend the summit, according to representatives from both sides.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid trucks have entered Gaza under the third day of the truce, though local residents in Khan Younis reported that some shipments were looted by starving civilians amid chaotic scenes.
Despite progress in negotiations, mediators continue to face challenges in securing a long-term political solution, including persuading Hamas to disarm.
A Hamas source close to the negotiating team told AFP that the group will not participate in postwar governance of Gaza but agreed to a long-term ceasefire, promising not to use its weapons “unless Israel attacks Gaza.”
Trump’s plan envisions a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, to be replaced by a multinational force coordinated by a U.S.-led command center in Israel. The Palestinian Authority (PA), based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and led by Mahmoud Abbas, has expressed willingness to cooperate with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to consolidate the ceasefire and begin reconstruction efforts.
Under Trump’s proposal, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza, and the territory would be administered by a Palestinian technocratic council supervised by an international body chaired by Trump, with Blair among its members.
Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said he met with Blair to discuss how to make Trump’s “Gaza war-ending and regional peace plan” successful.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities, at least 67,809 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war — figures the United Nations considers credible.
