Hamas hostage release is on track, but its fighters mobilise in Gaza

London: A senior Hamas leader has confirmed plans to release Israeli hostages from Monday morning (Israel time) to meet a crucial deadline in the Gaza ceasefire ahead of a ceremony in Egypt to mark a peace deal that could end the war.

The move comes as US President Donald Trump prepares to fly to Egypt for the peace ceremony on Monday, along with as many as 20 other national leaders, in a sign of international support for enforcing the terms of the agreement.

But top Hamas officials are seeking to assert their control over key parts of Gaza as the Israel Defence Forces withdraw from the devastated war zone, with the BBC reporting that 7000 fighters are being recalled to the territory.

The Hamas Interior Ministry said on Friday its police force would deploy across Gaza, and by Saturday, armed and masked men wearing caps labelled “Internal Security” were seen carrying out vehicle checks, according to witnesses, and footage on social media and Al Jazeera TV.

The mobilisation of thousands of Hamas fighters challenges a central feature of Trump’s peace plan, which says the group should disarm and have no role in the governance of Gaza.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by major democracies, including Australia. Several of the nations that recognised a Palestinian state at the United Nations last month did so while stipulating that Hamas should have no control over Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Friday, when the ceasefire began, that Hamas had to be disarmed and Gaza had to be demilitarised.

Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the group was on course to begin releasing hostages ahead of the deadline of noon on Monday (8pm AEDT).

“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed, and there are no new developments on this matter,” he told Agence France-Presse.

If Hamas meets the noon deadline, Israel is expected to release as many as 2000 Palestinian security prisoners under the terms of the ceasefire agreed at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

The families of the hostages gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday with 500,000 people to prepare for the release of the final 48 hostages, but they spoke of the pain of receiving the bodies of those who had died in captivity. About 20 hostages are said to be still alive.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke at the rally, which was also attended by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who has been part of the team negotiating the peace deal.

“To the hostages themselves, our brothers and sisters, you are coming home,” Witkoff told the crowd. Kushner said they would celebrate on Monday when the remaining hostages were released, and also noted the “suffering” in Gaza.

While the crowd cheered Trump, the Associated Press and Reuters reported that some booed Netanyahu when Witkoff mentioned his name.

One hostage’s father, Michel Illouz, said: “This week, we will all see sights we only dreamed of, meet people we waited for so much, embrace hugs we so longed for.”

“This week, we will also all cry, we will cry at the return of the deceased, we will mourn and bury our children.”

His son, Guy, was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and wounded by gunfire. He died in captivity, according to other hostages who were later released.

Global leaders to join peace summit

Egypt announced on Saturday that more than 20 national leaders, including Trump, would join Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at Monday’s peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, which will include a signing ceremony for the ceasefire deal.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are among those expected to attend.

Trump is expected to visit Israel on Monday before heading to Egypt.

The commander of the US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, confirmed on Saturday that American soldiers had begun arriving in the region to monitor the ceasefire.

“This great effort will be achieved with no US boots on the ground in Gaza,” he said.

Thousands of Palestinians have begun returning to their former homes in the areas occupied by Israeli forces before their withdrawal, but aid groups warned that they needed urgent supplies of food, water and shelter.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” Ismail Zayda, 40, told Reuters in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City.

“But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, a middle-aged man, Ahmed al-Brim, told Reuters his area had been destroyed.

“We went to our area. It was exterminated. We don’t know where we will go after that,” he said. “We couldn’t get the furniture, or clothes, or anything, not even winter clothes. Nothing is left.”

The BBC reported that armed Hamas units were already returning to some districts, either in civilian clothing or in the blue uniforms of the Gaza police.

It cited a mobilisation order that was sent via phone calls and text messages to Hamas fighters, who were expected to return to areas previously held by Israeli forces.

“We declare a general mobilisation in response to the call of national and religious duty, to cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators with Israel,” it said. “You must report within 24 hours to your designated locations using your official codes.”

With Reuters, AP

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