Hamas Completes Preparations to Release Remaining Hostages

Hamas announced that it has completed preparations to release its remaining living hostages, a move expected to take place early Monday as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The anticipated exchange marks a major step toward implementing the proposal just hours before Trump hosts a landmark peace summit in Egypt.

Under the U.S.-brokered agreement, Israel will release around 2,000 Palestinian detainees once all hostages are safely transferred. However, negotiations continued late Sunday as Hamas pressed Israel to include seven senior Palestinian leaders in the list of those to be freed.

Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, confirmed that the “hostage release will begin early Monday morning,” adding that Israel expects “all 20 living hostages to be released together.”

President Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel shortly after the release. He will address the Knesset before traveling to Egypt to lead a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The gathering will bring together more than 20 world leaders to endorse a plan aimed at ending the two-year Gaza conflict and fostering long-term regional stability.

Final Details Under Discussion

Two Hamas sources told AFP that the group has “completed all preparations” for handing over the remaining captives, though it continues to insist that Israel release seven high-profile Palestinian prisoners — including Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas al-Sayyed — as part of the deal. Israel has previously rejected freeing some of these figures.

Bedrosian stated that Palestinian prisoners will be released only after Israel confirms that all hostages have crossed safely into its territory. During an earlier truce, confirmation of deceased hostages’ identities was carried out through autopsies at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.

Scope of the Exchange

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas is expected to release the remaining 47 hostages — both living and deceased — abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people, most of them civilians, and ignited the ongoing war in Gaza. The group will also return the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 conflict.

Among the 2,000 Palestinians to be freed, approximately 250 are security detainees convicted of attacking Israelis, while the rest were detained during recent Israeli operations in Gaza.

International Summit for Peace

Following his visit to Israel, Trump will join President al-Sisi in hosting the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, with participation from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Egyptian presidency said the meeting aims “to end the war in Gaza, enhance peace efforts, and usher in a new era of regional security.”

Neither Israeli nor Hamas representatives will attend the summit.

Scenes of Uncertainty in Gaza

While the ceasefire has allowed limited humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, conditions remain dire. In Khan Yunis, desperate residents were seen scrambling for food supplies as aid trucks arrived, reflecting growing frustration and doubt over the peace process.

“People here are still filled with fear and worry,” said Mahmud al-Muzain, a bystander. “No one believes these talks will bring real peace.”