A critical day is unfolding for the Middle East as Israel began receiving the last 20 living hostages held by Hamas and released some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange in a breakthrough Gaza ceasefire deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrived on Air Force One to a red carpet in Tel Aviv on Monday, where he will address Israel's parliament in Jerusalem before heading to Egypt for a ceremony marking the ceasefire plan.
More ramped-up aid was being readied for Gaza, much of which is in ruins after two years of war that began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,600 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
What we know and what remains unknown:
Hostages are being released
Monday was day 738 since the hostages were taken, a number many Israelis have updated daily on strips of adhesive tape worn in national commemoration.
Twenty living hostages were returned Monday to Israel and will be reunited with their families and then transferred to hospitals, the Israeli military said.
Hamas first released seven and then 13 hostages on Monday. Israel is expected to free over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. The exchange comes as part of the ceasefire reached in the two-year Israel-Hamas war that is the first phase of a peace plan brokered by the Trump administration.
It appeared unlikely the remains of up to 28 others will be returned at the same time. Medical experts and advocates say that would be crucial to begin the healing process for many families, and for society at large, but one ceasefire document contains stipulations for remains that aren’t returned within 72 hours of the end of the fighting. That deadline is roughly noon Monday in the Middle East (0900 GMT).
On Sunday, Israel said “an international body” will help locate the remains if they are not released Monday.
Palestinian prisoners released
Buses carrying dozens of freed Palestinian prisoners arrived Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Prisoners Office said.
They are the first to be released from about 1,700 people that troops seized from Gaza during the war and have held without charge, as well as about 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences.
Many are members of Hamas and the Fatah faction who were imprisoned over shootings, bombings or other attacks that killed or attempted to kill Israelis, as well as others convicted on lesser charges. They’ll return to the West Bank or Gaza or be sent into exile.
It is unclear who will be among the prisoners released back into Gaza, and whether any will be deported.
Aid expected to surge in Gaza
Humanitarian organizations said they’re preparing to surge aid into the Gaza Strip, especially food that’s been in short supply in many areas.
That includes some 400 trucks from Egypt on Sunday that will have to undergo Israeli inspection before being allowed into the strip. The Israeli defense body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said around 600 trucks of aid per day will be entering soon, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.
The world’s leading authority on food crises said in August that the Gaza Strip's largest city was gripped by a famine that was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said famine was devastating Gaza City — home to hundreds of thousands of people. That famine was expected to spread south to the cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by around now if the situation did not change.
The larger task of rebuilding Gaza is daunting, as much of it is in rubble and most of its two million residents displaced.
Trump to travel to Israel and Egypt
Trump, who pushed to clinch the ceasefire deal, arrived in Israel to a red carpet Monday morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog greeted Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and advisor Steve Witkoff, who is thought to be leading the U.S. negotiation team in Egypt.
Trump is scheduled to meet with families of hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before traveling to Egypt for a “peace summit” attended by regional and international leaders later on Monday. From there, he was slated to return to the White House, arriving overnight Tuesday.
Daunting issues remain unsolved
The ceasefire and release of hostages is the first step in the proposed peace plan. Competing demands remain on the next steps, casting uncertainty on whether the conflict is indeed over.
Israel wants Hamas to disarm, and Hamas wants Israel to pull its troops out of all of Gaza. The future of Gaza’s government, which has been in Hamas’ hands for two decades, also remains to be worked out.
Gaza's Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the 67,600 deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties
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