A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Sunday ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and an address by US President Donald Trump to Israel’s parliament.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hopeful the ceasefire would bring an end to the war.
“There is a lot of joy among the people,” said Abdou Abu Seada, adding that the joy was tempered by exhaustion after two years of war that has destroyed much of Gaza.
Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said that Israel expected the hostages to start being released early Monday morning with the 20 living hostages to be released together.
In the event that hostages were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said. Their release is to be followed later by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on October 7, 2023, when the group’s launched the surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war.
Israel’s hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch on Thursday said a task force would be formed to help find the remains of any dead hostages that Hamas could not locate.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Monday to address the Knesset, the parliament, before traveling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner addressed a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, which many Israelis hoped would be the final one urging the release of hostages and end to the war.
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.
“For two years we (have been) waiting for this day for this moment… All of us feel happy for the family, for the hostages, that finally … we will see them,” said demonstrator Dalia Yosef, thanking Trump.
The Israel Prison Service said it had transferred some Palestinian prisoners to other facilities ahead of their expected release. The Israeli Ministry of Justice has released the names of 250 Palestinians, convicted of murder and other serious crimes, who are to be freed under the deal.
The list does not include senior Hamas commanders that the group had sought to free, or prominent figures from other factions such as Marwan Al Barghouti or Ahmed Saadat.
Although that was not expected to derail the agreement, Hamas’ prisoners information office said that talks with Israeli mediators over the list of prisoners to be freed were ongoing.
Israel is also to release 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023 and 22 Palestinian minors, along with the bodies of 360 fighters. Israeli government spokesperson Bedrosian said the prisoners would be released once the living hostages reach Israeli territory.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that once the hostages were returned, the military would destroy underground tunnels in Gaza built by Hamas.
Palestinians returning to northern Gaza have described widespread devastation. Rescue workers warned there could be unexploded ordnance and bombs in the area.
Amjad Al Shawa, who heads a Palestinian organisation coordinating with aid groups, estimated 300,000 tents were needed to temporarily house 1.5 million displaced Gazans.
“We couldn’t believe the destruction we have seen,” Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, said by phone after walking 15 km (9.5 miles) with his son from Deir Al Balah to Gaza City.
“We are joyful to return to Gaza (City) but at the same time we have bitter feelings about the destruction,” he said, describing seeing human remains scattered along roads.