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Israeli hostages to be released starting Monday, says Hamas official
The handover of Gaza hostages will be followed by the release some 2,000 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons.
According to a top Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, the release of 48 mostly Israeli hostages held in Gaza will begin on Monday morning, reported news agency AFP.
"According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed, and there are no new developments on this matter," Hamdan told AFP.
He added that Hamas leadership has not yet been notified about the logistics of the hostage handover by the Hamas militants on the ground.
The handover of Gaza hostages will be followed by the release some 2,000 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, as per to the first stage of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Hamdan said that which Palestinian prisoners will be released by Israel was still under negotiation as Israel is not ready to release certain people, however, the final list should be ready by Sunday morning.
Hamas's "prisoners office... has said that, so far, the process has not been finalised. Israel is still refusing to release certain names. However, the negotiating delegation is making every effort to secure their release," AFP quoted Hamdan as saying.
Egypt to host Gaza peace summit
Egypt will host the Gaza peace summit on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, during which, several world leaders will come together for the signing of the peace agreement in the middle east.
The summit will be chaired by United States President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and will be attended by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, among others.
According to Egyptian presidency, the summit will be attended by leaders of over twenty countries.
While it is still not clear whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend the summit or not, Hamas has made it clear that it will not be involved.
(With AFP inputs)
