Hamas Releases Seven Hostages To ICRC Before Trump Israel Visit
The rest of the living hostages, 13 in total, are expected to be freed later in the day.
Hamas freed seven living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, following a US-led deal reached late last week.
The Palestinian militant group released them to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is set to pass them over to Israeli officials. The Israeli military confirmed seven captives were on their way to be handed over.
The rest of the living hostages, 13 in total, are expected to be freed later in the day.
The release of the hostages came hours ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East to celebrate the ceasefire deal clinched last week with Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and American mediation. Trump will address Israel’s parliament on Monday morning before traveling to Egypt for a signing ceremony with world leaders.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, once the hostages are freed, Israel is obliged to free almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them former Hamas members serving life sentences. Israel has also pulled back its troops from most populated areas in Gaza and was set to increase the aid supply to the embattled territory.
The Palestinian militant group was also due to release the bodies of more than two dozen hostages who died in captivity, though Israeli officials have suggested those exchanges could take some time.
“After the living hostages arrive, the Red Cross will return to Gaza to get some of the deceased abductees,” Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, coordinator of POWs and Missing Persons for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told reporters on Sunday. “We aren’t saying the exact number that will come back tomorrow”
There will also be a task force set up by the US, Israel, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to locate kidnapped victims who are unaccounted for, according to Hirsch. If necessary, engineering equipment will be brought in.
Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the US and European Union, launched the war two years ago. While firing 5,000 missiles at Israeli towns, thousands of its operatives crossed into Israel and killed 1,200 people, abducting another 250. The majority of the hostages were freed during earlier ceasefires.
Israel’s counter-offensive has killed at least 67,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and destroyed much of the territory. A United Nations-backed body declared famine in parts of the north because Israel blocked aid, and experts have charged Israel both with genocide and a policy of forced starvation. Israel denies the allegations.
Trump’s son-in-law and confidant, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff served as intermediaries in the negotiations. The two addressed a rapturous crowd at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Saturday night, in which they were hailed for their role in securing the deal. The crowd booed, however, when Witkoff tried to credit Netanyahu.
“Steve and I will one day tell the stories,” Kushner said, speaking just after Witkoff. “They’ll make you laugh, they’ll make you cry. It was crazy. I noticed he had no four-letter words in his speech, because I think he used them all up in the negotiation.”
