Palestinian militant group Hamas has released the first seven surviving Israeli hostages, the initial phase of a ceasefire agreement that US President Donald Trump helped to broker aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza.
The seven hostages had been transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross from the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza, officials confirmed.
The handover of the 13 remaining surviving hostages, plus 28 other Israeli hostages – 26 dead and two whose fate is unknown – is expected to follow.
Under the agreement, Israel was set to release almost 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners from its jails later today.
Those 1,966 detainees boarded buses at Israeli prisons and most were expected to be released at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, an official involved in the operation said.
A Red Cross convoy is on its way to pick up a first batch of Israeli hostages to be freed by Hamas
About a dozen masked gunmen dressed in black, apparently members of Hamas’ armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, Reuters footage showed.
“The war is over,” Mr Trump told reporters on board Air Force One as he flew from Washington to Israel.
Asked about prospects for the region, he said: “I think it’s going to normalise.”
In a statement issued this morning, the armed wing of Hamas affirmed its commitment to the terms and timeline of the deal, contingent on Israel’s adherence. It claimed that Israel agreed to a ceasefire and swap deal after it failed to free the hostages through its military offensive.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Mr 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?” he added.
In Israel, Mr 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.
His trip is partly a victory lap over the Gaza deal he helped broker with a 20-point peace plan announced in late September.
“Everybody’s very excited about this moment in time,” Mr Trump said earlier as he prepared to board the plane at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
Key US officials travelling with him included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and top military officer Dan Caine.
Watch: Donald Trump speaks of ‘a very special event’ before he leaves for the Middle East
Negotiators were still wrangling late last night over the final arrangements for the exchanges, with two Hamas sources saying the group was insisting that Israel include seven senior Palestinian leaders on the list of those to be released.
Israel has previously rejected at least one of those names.
The sources said the group and its allies had nevertheless “completed all preparations” for handing over to Israel all the living hostages.
Israel does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned.
Peace summit
After visiting Israel, Mr Trump will head to Egypt where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.
Mr Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan – including Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory.
Israeli military helicopters wait in preparation to take hostages released by Hamas in Gaza to hospitals in Israel
Mr Trump insisted he had “guarantees” from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages.
“I don’t think they’re going to want to disappoint me,” he said.
Mr Trump also said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza itself but did not say when such a difficult security challenge would be possible.
A new governing body for devastated Gaza – which Mr Trump himself would head under his own plan – would be established “very quickly,” he added.
Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,806 people, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers credible.
The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.