Israel, Hamas set to free captives; Trump says Gaza ‘war is over’
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has begun “a multi-phase operation” to oversee the release of some 20 Israeli captives and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
US President Donald Trump has declared the war in Gaza over as he flew to the Middle East, where he will address the Israeli Knesset and cochair a summit in Egypt on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
What we know about the Palestinian prisoners
Around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are set to be released in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives.
Among them are 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza
Another 250 prisoners serving life or long sentences.
Of those, 135 will be deported to Gaza or exiled abroad, 100 are expected to be sent to the occupied West Bank, and 15 will be released in East Jerusalem.
White House says Trump approaching Israel for ‘historic day’
Rapid Response 47, an official White House social media account, says the US President is approaching Israel for “an historic day for the entire world”.
The post says Trump is due to land in Tel Aviv within the next hour and then meet families of Israeli captives soon after.
He will then deliver remarks to the Israeli Knesset at 11am (0800 GMT) before departing from the Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
‘What will happen after today is very much up in the air’
Mouin Rabbani, a Middle East analyst and co-editor of Jadaliyya, has told Al Jazeera that the question is now whether today’s exchange “is the beginning or the end”.
“Some people have suggested that once Israel retrieves its captives, it will simply resume its genocidal military offensive in the Gaza Strip,” said Rabbani.
“Others have suggested that Israel will wait until negotiations collapse over the second stage of the Trump-Netanyahu proposal”, when “issues like governance and disarmament” are meant to be decided.
But Rabbani said, it is “equally plausible to suggest that this agreement will hold, and in some respects, will mimic the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, where the Palestinians cease fire and Israel continues to fire”.
“I think what will happen after today is very much up in the air, and it’s really unclear what will happen the minute Trump’s flight leaves back to Washington,” he added.
Trump set to land in Israel as swap of captives and prisoners takes place
Air Force One is now on its way to the Middle East for a short visit by Trump, both to Israel and Egypt.
Remember that in the past, when we had exchanges of captives and prisoners, it was a very long, drawn-out process. Now they are trying to choreograph it according to the timetable of the US president’s trip.
I think the most important timing right now is that he is supposed to land just as the swap of captives and prisoners takes place.
Next, when he arrives in Egypt, Trump is going to be at the centre of a signing ceremony of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
That’s what the White House wants. They want him to be seen as the architect of all of this, and they want the rest of the international community to be there, showing that Donald Trump did this deal.
There are some worries among other countries about whether they will have a substantive involvement in shaping the direction of the deal. What will happen next?
Anticipation, fear in Israel as Hamas prepares to free captives
The families of the Israeli captives and their supporters spent the night at “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv waiting for the release.
There’s a lot of anticipation. There’s a lot of fear and apprehension because nobody’s going to believe that this is happening until it actually materialises.
There were last-minute changes concerning the names of the Palestinians from Gaza who will be released.
There were discussions until the last minute, and that increases the apprehension, who will be released and who will stay behind, and how many will stay behind. Those are the kind of answers that families will be looking for.
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Here’s what you need to know:
The families of nearly 2,000 Palestinians due to be freed from Israeli prisons are waiting for their return at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, and in their homes at the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In Israel, families of the 20 captives are gathering at the Re’im military base, while supporters are rallying at “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv.
Hamas has published the names of the 20 living Israeli captives set to be freed as well as the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners set to be released by Israel.
The exchange is due to take place ahead of a midday (09:00 GMT) deadline under the terms of the ceasefire agreement proposed by Trump.
Trump is on his way to the Middle East and is expected to address the Israeli parliament before flying to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh for a world leaders’ summit on ending the war in Gaza.
