Seven Israeli hostages were transferred to the Red Cross in Gaza on Monday, October 13, the first group of what is expected to be 20 survivors, according to the Israeli military and security service.
“According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages have been transferred into their custody, and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said. “The IDF is prepared to receive additional hostages who are expected to be transferred to the Red Cross later on.”
Hamas was set to release all surviving hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel on Monday, as US President Donald Trump headed to the region for a peace summit having declared the war “over.”
Trump’s lightning visit to Israel and Egypt aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal – but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next. Under the US president’s proposed roadmap, once the Palestinian militants have handed over the surviving hostages, Israel will begin releasing around 2,000 detainees in exchange.
Israel expects all 20 living hostages to be released to the Red Cross “early Monday morning,” according to a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Hamas’s armed wing confirmed on Monday that it was preparing to release the living hostages and published a list of 20 names. Israel’s military said the Red Cross was on its way to pick up the first Gaza hostages. An army statement said the handover would take place at “a meeting point in the northern Gaza Strip where several hostages will be transferred.”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure. “I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting. “The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added.
In Israel, Trump is due to meet the families of hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly cross-border attack two years ago that sparked the war, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.
