Israel and Hamas have begun a coordinated exchange under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, with all 20 remaining Israeli captives released from Gaza, and Israel starting to free hundreds of Palestinians as well.
As part of the deal, Israel is freeing 250 Palestinians serving long and life sentences, along with 1,700 others from Gaza who had been held without charge since October 7, 2023. The Prisoners’ Media Office confirmed that 154 of those freed were exiled by Israel and sent to Egypt to complete their release procedures under the ceasefire agreement.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to welcome the newly freed detainees, waving flags and chanting as buses arrived in the early hours. Medical teams were on standby to examine those released, following what officials described as “years of harsh and degrading conditions” in Israeli prisons.
All 20 Israeli living captives have now been freed and returned to Israel. The bodies of 28 other deceased Israelis remain in Gaza and are expected to be handed over in the coming days.
U.S. President Donald Trump praised the return of the freed Israelis, calling it “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” Trump is traveling on Monday, 13 October, to Egypt to co-chair the Peace Summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The summit aims to consolidate the ceasefire, coordinate humanitarian relief, and discuss post-war reconstruction plans for Gaza.
The exchange marks the most significant prisoner release since the start of the war in October 2023, which left much of Gaza in ruins and triggered a prolonged humanitarian crisis. The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, follows two years of intense lsraeli attacks that claimed more than 60,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
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