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Aid relief scaled up as Hamas confirms it will begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning
Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza tomorrow morning, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group has told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to hold.
Israel’s military says it has completed the first phase of its withdrawal from Gaza, after the ceasefire, brokered by the US, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, came into effect on Friday morning.
Under its terms, Hamas has until 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Monday to release all 20 living hostages. This will be in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP.
The US president, Donald Trump, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-sheikh on Monday afternoon.
It will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability,” the Egyptian presidency said.
Humanitarian aid trucks are lined up before proceeding towards the Rafah border crossing. Photograph: EPA
The developments come as aid groups begin scaling up relief efforts in Gaza, parts of which have endured famine conditions and starvation because Israel denied and obstructed humanitarian aid from entering into the territory.
There are reports of aid trucks having arrived to southern Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt this morning.
Under the terms of the first phase of the deal, aid is meant to surge into Gaza, and humanitarian groups are preparing to send in about 600 truckloads of food and medical supplies a day.
We will have more on this later. Stick with us throughout the day as we provide the latest updates and analysis on how the terms of the ceasefire plan unfold on the ground.