GAZA CITY: Hamas is set to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
US President Donald Trump is heading to the region for a peace summit after declaring the war over.
Trump’s rapid visit to Israel and Egypt aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal.
This visit comes at a delicate time as Israel and Hamas negotiate the next steps.
Under the US president’s proposed roadmap, Palestinian militants will hand over surviving hostages before Israel begins releasing around 2,000 detainees.
Israel expects all 20 living hostages to be released to the Red Cross early Monday morning according to a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Trump expressed confidence about the ceasefire holding during remarks to reporters on Air Force One.
He stated that people are tired of the conflict which has lasted for centuries.
The US president firmly declared that the war is now over.
Trump will meet the families of hostages seized by Hamas in the cross-border attack two years ago that sparked the war.
He will also address the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem during his visit.
His trip serves partly as a victory lap over the Gaza deal he helped broker with his 20-point peace plan announced in late September.
Trump noted that everybody feels very excited about this current moment in time.
Key US officials travelling with him included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Also accompanying Trump were CIA chief John Ratcliffe and top military officer Dan Caine.
Negotiators continued working on final arrangements for the exchanges late Sunday.
Two Hamas sources told AFP the group insists Israel include seven senior Palestinian leaders on the release list.
Israel has previously rejected at least one of those names.
The sources confirmed the group and its allies had completed all preparations for handing over all living hostages to Israel.
Israel does not expect all deceased hostages to be returned on Monday.
Under the plan Hamas will release all remaining 47 hostages both living and deceased from the October 7 2023 attack.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel left 1,219 people dead with most victims being civilians.
Hamas is also expected to hand over the remains of a soldier killed during the 2014 Gaza war.
Among the Palestinian prisoners to be released 250 are security detainees including many convicted of killing Israelis.
Approximately 1,700 prisoners were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.
After visiting Israel Trump will head to Egypt to co-host a summit with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
More than 20 world leaders will attend to support his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.
Trump aims to resolve uncertainty around next phases including Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge full withdrawal from Gaza.
The US president insisted he has guarantees from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase and future stages.
Trump suggested neither side would want to disappoint him regarding the agreement.
He expressed pride at the possibility of visiting Gaza itself though didn’t specify when such a security challenge might be possible.
Trump added that a new governing body for devastated Gaza would be established very quickly under his plan.
This new body would be headed by Trump himself according to his proposed roadmap.
As Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated through a US-led command centre in Israel.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,806 people according to health ministry figures from the Hamas-run territory.
The United Nations considers these casualty figures credible.
The data doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates more than half the dead are women and children. – AFP