Israel eagerly awaits hostage release

Israel said Sunday that it expected all of the living hostages held in the Gaza Strip to be released Monday in its breakthrough ceasefire deal with Hamas, as Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held in Israel and a surge of aid into the famine-stricken territory.

- By Samy Macpy, SARAH EL DEEB AND MELANIE LIDMAN

AID IS poised to surge into Gaza, much of which is in ruins, including Gaza City.

(JEHAD ALSHRAFI Associated Press)

“In a few hours, we will all be reunited,” Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said in a statement.

President Trump planned to leave later in the day to visit Israel and Egypt to celebrate the ceasefire announced last week that offered hope for an end to the two-year war.

“We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles,” Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said, noting that Israel did not expect militants to stage the exchanges in the same manner as previous rounds.

Bedrosian said the hostages will be driven to a military base to reunite with their families or, if needed, immediately to a hospital.

After the hostages are freed, Israel was ready to release about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and receive the 28 hostages believed to be dead. The military planned to hold a ceremony on their behalf in Gaza, Bedrosian added.

The dead are expected to be transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.

An international task force will start working to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within the 72-hour period, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing. Officials have said the search for the bodies of hostages, some of whom may be buried under rubble, could take time.

Timing has not been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel who are to be freed. They include 250 people serving life sentences in addition to 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge.