Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning, one of its top officials said, before President Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region.
As part of the deal’s first phase, Hamas will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the AFP news agency in an interview Saturday.
Mr. Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon, the Egyptian presidency announced.
The meeting will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability,” it said.
Several other world leaders have said they will also attend, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
There was no immediate word on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be there. Hamas would not take part as it had “acted principally through…Qatari and Egyptian mediators” during talks, Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said.
