Israel and Hamas are preparing to begin the first phase of their prisoner exchange on Monday morning, under a ceasefire agreement brokered through US mediation and tied to President Trump’s Gaza plan.
Israel announced on Sunday that the release of living detainees held in the Gaza Strip will begin early Monday morning.
According to official statements, the Israeli captives will be released in a single batch, to be followed by the release of Palestinian prisoners. Contacts with mediators are ongoing to finalize the lists of Palestinians to be freed under the agreement.
Israel’s Channel 12 confirmed that International Red Cross buses had started transporting the detainees to southern Israel in preparation for their arrival.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that it expects the detainees to be handed over to the Red Cross on Monday morning. It added that the release of Palestinian prisoners would follow once the detainees arrive in Israel.
At a press conference, an Israeli government spokeswoman said that all Palestinian prisoners covered by the agreement would be released only after the safe return of the 20 Israeli detainees.
She also confirmed that Israel is preparing to receive the bodies of 28 deceased captives once the living detainees have been returned.
Channel 12 reported that some families of slain detainees were informed that their relatives’ bodies would not be returned in the first phase of the deal.
The spokeswoman further noted that the Israeli army had withdrawn to the so-called “Yellow Line” in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s plan, pending the imminent release of all detainees.
US Vice President J.D. Vance stated earlier on Sunday that the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza would take place “at any moment now.” He added that while most of the captives’ bodies were expected to be recovered, “not all will be found.”
Vance also clarified that there are no US plans to deploy ground forces to Gaza or Israel.
Ongoing Obstacles
On the Palestinian side, a senior source in the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas told Al-Jazeera that the group had been holding intensive discussions with mediators to revise and improve the lists of Palestinian prisoners slated for release.
He explained that negotiations are still underway to finalize the lists amid Israeli objections.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office also said that certain obstacles are delaying the official announcement, though efforts are continuing around the clock to resolve them.
According to the office, the names of the released prisoners and further details will be made public once the talks conclude and the final lists are approved.
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Details of the Exchange
A senior Hamas official told Al-Jazeera that the resistance had completed a full count of the remaining Israeli captives and distributed them across multiple locations in Gaza in preparation for their handover.
He added that representatives of the resistance and the International Red Cross would meet Sunday night to agree on the handover mechanism. The transfer will reportedly take place through three different routes inside the Gaza Strip, and the resistance has reiterated its commitment to implementing the agreement according to the agreed timetable.
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the alert level in Israeli prisons had been raised to the highest level as part of preparations for the exchange.
Israeli and US Readiness
Netanyahu said Israel is ready to immediately receive its captives from Gaza, just hours before Trump’s expected arrival in the region.
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According to Israeli media, officials expect all Israeli detainees to be released before Trump’s visit to Israel on Monday morning.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel will release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences, along with approximately 1,700 others arrested in Gaza after October 8, 2023.
Trump is scheduled to meet Netanyahu and the families of Israeli captives on Monday before addressing the Knesset. He will then travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend an international summit aimed at consolidating the ceasefire and ending Israel’s war on Gaza.
The ceasefire came into effect on Friday at noon, after being approved by the Israeli government earlier that morning.
(PC, AJA)
