Israel is “ready to immediately welcome all” the hostages still held by Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this Sunday, October 12, according to a statement from his office.
“Israel is ready and prepared for the immediate reception of all our hostages”Netanyahu’s office said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister stated that Israel will only release Palestinian detainees after confirmation that all Israeli hostages, dead or alive, have been returned.
“Palestinian prisoners [cuja libertação está prevista no âmbito da troca com os reféns] will be released as soon as Israel obtains confirmation that all hostages scheduled to be released on Monday have crossed the Israeli border”, said Shosh Bedrosian, in an online press conference.
During the last truce, confirmation of the identity of the dead hostages was only obtained after an autopsy at the Israeli Legal Medicine Institute.
‘The Wall Street Journal’ reported in the last few hours that Hamas confirmed to Israel that it had 20 live hostages and that it was ready to hand them over today or on Monday, as initially planned.
The agreement reached on Thursday provides for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees in exchange for the return of 48 hostages still held in Gaza.of which 47 (and among these 27 dead) were kidnapped in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 in Israel.
According to the Israeli hostage coordinator, Gal Hirsch, preparations have already been completed for the transfer of the dead hostages, which will be carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross, in a “respectful manner”, to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where the remains will be identified.
The Palestinian prisoners and detainees who will be released are already in Ofer prisons in the occupied West Bank and in Ketziot prison, in the south of Israel, the latter from where they will be repatriated to Gaza and third countries.
Thousands of employees worked throughout Friday night, according to the Israeli prison services today, to transfer the Palestinian prisoners who will be released in the hostage exchange.
Na Lista Among those to be released are not prominent figures such as Marwan Barghouti – detained in 2002 during the second Intifada and whom many Palestinians see as successor to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority – or Ahmed Saadat, former secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
However, doubts are growing about the viability of the exchange, as Hamas refused to participate in the official signing of the peace agreement with Israel, after rejecting the part of the plan that involves the disarmament of the Islamic resistance movement.
Today, Hamas stated that it will not participate in the post-war governance of Gaza, on the eve of the summit dedicated to the Palestinian territory, which will bring together around two dozen leaders in Egypt around Donald Trump.
After two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, A ceasefire came into force last Friday based on the 20-point plan presented by the US President, which provides for the disarmament of Hamas and excludes any role for the movement in the future governance of the Palestinian territory.
“For Hamas, the governance of the Gaza Strip is a resolved issue. Hamas will not participate in any way in the transition phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Gaza Strip, but it continues to be a fundamental element of Palestinian society,” a source close to the Hamas negotiating team told AFP, speaking anonymously.
Although the Hamas leadership has in the past been divided on key issues, notably the future administration of Gaza, the refusal to disarmament appears to be consensual.
“Hamas accepts a long-term truce and that its weapons will not be used during that period, except in the case of an Israeli attack on Gaza,” said the same source. “The proposed delivery of weapons is completely out of the question and is non-negotiable”another Hamas official said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, preparations are being finalized for Monday’s summit, with the host country revealing that it has invited Arab, Islamic, European and Asian countries to attend the “historic” Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit on the Gaza Strip, co-chaired by the North American presidents, Donald Trump, and Egyptian presidents, Abdelfatah al-Sisi.