Live Updates: Israel Begins to Release Prisoners After Chaotic Hostage Handover
The New York Times
The release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners as laid out in the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal had been in doubt after crowds in southern Gaza surrounded hostages who were being freed.
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Israel’s military said the four hostages, all female soldiers, were being brought back to Israel from Gaza. Israel is now expected to release around 200 Palestinian prisoners.
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Hundreds of truckloads of food, fuel and other supplies have arrived in Gaza each day since the cease-fire took effect. But the need is vast after 15 months of war.
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Israel says it has killed thousands of the armed group’s members and destroyed much of its infrastructure, but since the cease-fire started Hamas has shown it still holds power in the enclave.
“It took us a few minutes to accept that this pile of rubble was our home,” said Islam Dahliz, whose family was ordered by Israeli forces to evacuate Rafah in May.
The announcement came shortly after President Trump rescinded Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists raided Palestinian villages in protest against the cease-fire in Gaza.
More than 30 hostages are set to be released during the cease-fire in Gaza. But many Israelis have mixed feelings about the deal because they feel it came at a high price.
Gazans were surveying the vast damage to their neighborhoods on Monday as anxious Israelis awaited news about the condition of the hostages.
Israel said it was still attacking in the enclave because Hamas had not yet handed over names of hostages to be released on Sunday. Hamas said the delay was technical.
Qatar, which mediated the agreement, said the cease-fire deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.
The truce will begin at 8:30 a.m., according to the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, a mediator in the talks. U.S. and other diplomats see the deal as the best chance to end the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza.
The full Israeli cabinet passed the agreement during a meeting that continued into the Jewish Sabbath, setting up the first reprieve in Gaza in over a year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged the security cabinet to approve the agreement after a day of delays. His office said the deal, which is expected to be greenlit by the full cabinet later Friday, could go into effect as early as Sunday.
The agreement, which would include the release of hostages, was met with cautious optimism. But Israel’s cabinet needs to ratify the deal, and the prime minister’s office said Hamas was reneging on parts of it, an accusation that the group rejected.
Senior officials said a deal had been reached, but negotiators had yet to confirm a start date or other technical details.
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