Cease-fire lingering in Gaza ahead of Egypt’s summit
A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Sunday ahead of the expected release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners and a summit in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh resort city on ending the war in Gaza.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hoping the cease-fire would bring an end to the war that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians so far.
Israeli cabinet official Shosh Bedrosian that Tel Aviv expected the captives to start being released early Monday morning with the 20 living captives to be released together.
Their release is to be followed later by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 deceased captives. Under the cease-fire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on October 7, 2023, when the group launched the surprise attack on the occupied territories.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Monday to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, before traveling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for a world leaders' peace summit on ending the Gaza war. No Hamas or Israeli officials to attend Egypt peace summit. The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for the cease-fire.
Iran welcomes cessation of genocide
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran welcomes cessation of the Israeli regime’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, while advising serious caution in light of multiple instances of Tel Aviv’s betrayal of previous agreements. “We have always supported any plan or initiative that would put an end to the crimes and genocide against the people of Gaza,” he said, but cautioned, “There is absolutely no trust in the Zionist regime, and there have been multiple instances where it has violated ceasefires.” The Israel Prison Service said it had transferred some Palestinian prisoners to other facilities ahead of their 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. 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.