Summary
Israel has begun transferring prisoners to two jails ahead of their release as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, designed to lead to the release of hostages held by Hamas, the prison service said on Saturday. Thousands of staff, including prison officers, “operated throughout the night in order to implement the government’s decision”
Israel is expected to release about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving long sentences for serious security offences, in exchange for the remaining hostages in Gaza. A list Israel published on Friday did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti. Netanyahu’s office has confirmed it refuses to release Barghouti.
Hamas’s disarmament as part of US president Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza is “out of the question”, a Hamas official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday. “The proposed weapons handover is out of the question and not negotiable,” the official said. Trump has indicated the issue of Hamas surrendering its weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday more than 500,000 people had returned to Gaza City since a ceasefire took effect the previous day.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has congratulated Donald Trump on the Gaza ceasefire, according to an Axios correspondent.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with Ivanka Trump, addressed a rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Witkoff said Israeli hostages held in Gaza were coming home.
Egypt has confirmed it will host an international summit on Monday for foreign leaders to discuss “the agreement to end the war in Gaza”. More than 20 world leaders will attend, including US president Donald Trump, British prime minister Keir Starmer, and French president Emmanuel Macron.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun scaling up its operations in Gaza, as the ceasefire paves the way for humanitarian agencies to resume operations in areas that have been cut off from vital aid in the war-torn territory.
“After two years of devastating conflict, hundreds of thousands of families remain displaced with food systems shattered, and access to basic necessities severely limited,” WFP said in a statement. “With full access, WFP intends to restore its regular food distribution system, scaling assistance through 145 distribution points across the Strip.”
It added that “over 170,000 metric tons of food” was ready for dispatch or on route, “via Ashdod, Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank corridors.”
