 "Thousands of jubilant Israelis gathered in a Tel Aviv square on October 9, hopeful for the return of hostages held in Gaza since two years of fear and worry, after Israel and Palestinian factions reached a hostage release and truce deal in a major step towards ending the war.- Image- AFP")
Israel has started moving inmates to two separate prisons in preparation for their release under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the prison service confirmed on Saturday. The transfers are part of a broader arrangement aimed at securing the release of hostages held by Hamas.
According to a statement from the service, thousands of staff, including prison officers, “operated throughout the night to implement the government’s decision: ‘the framework for the release of all Israeli hostages.’”
Under the terms of the truce, Israel is set to free 250 prisoners, some of whom are serving life sentences for deadly attacks. In return, Hamas is required to hand over the 48 remaining Israeli hostages both living and deceased by Monday.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians made their way back to their Gaza neighbourhoods, weaving through dust-shrouded streets as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of war and a ceasefire held in its second day.
Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and about 200 U.S. troops arrived in Israel to help retrieve hostages and monitor the ceasefire with Hamas.
The US troops will set up a center to facilitate the flow of aid as well as logistical and security assistance. The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command said he visited Gaza on Saturday to prepare it.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“This great effort will be achieved with no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza,” Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement, noting that his command would lead the center.
Aid is just one issue for Palestinians returning to their destroyed homes.
“When people get there, they’re going to find rubble. They’ll find that their homes and their neighbourhoods have been reduced to dust,” UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram told The Associated Press on Friday from central Gaza.
“A ceasefire alone is not enough,” Ingram added, and called for a “surge of humanitarian aid that begins to address the tremendous damage that has been done over the past two years.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Hamas will begin releasing Israeli captives on Monday as part of a US-brokered truce, which also includes returning the bodies of those who died in captivity, The Guardian reported.
Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza are expected to hand over 20 surviving captives and the remains of 28 others in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel under the Trump-led peace plan.
The ceasefire, finalised earlier this week, requires Hamas to free all captives within 72 hours of its start. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal early Friday, and troops began pulling back from positions inside Gaza to nearby staging areas.
With inputs from agencies