Gaza: Hamas has confirmed it will start releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning (October 13), ahead of an international summit on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Egypt.
The Palestinian militant group will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, officials said.
Hostage Release and Prisoner Swap
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP that the prisoner exchange would begin as scheduled. Israel is expected to release 250 detainees, including some serving life sentences, along with 1,700 Gazans held since the recent conflict. Hamas has until noon on Monday to hand over 47 remaining hostages, both living and deceased, from the 251 abducted during the attack on October 7, 2023. The remains of one additional hostage, held since 2014, are also expected to be returned.
US officials, including Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper, visited Gaza to oversee the preparations. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to their homes amid widespread destruction. “We finally feel hope, but we cannot and will not stop now,” said Zairo Shachar Mohr Munder, whose uncle was abducted and later recovered, according to AFP.
Returning Residents and Devastation in Gaza
More than 500,000 Palestinians had returned to Gaza City by Saturday evening, navigating streets filled with rubble, destroyed vehicles, and collapsed buildings. Raja Salmi, 52, described returning to her home in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood as confronting “all those memories are now just dust.” Sami Musa, 28, called the city “a ghost town,” noting the lingering smell of death.
Drone footage showed entire city blocks reduced to rubble, with twisted concrete and steel strewn across the streets. Humanitarian agencies have been allowed to transport 170,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza, contingent on the ceasefire holding.
The conflict has claimed at least 67,682 lives, according to Gaza’s health ministry, with more than half of the dead reported to be women and children.
