First hostages to be freed today: Hamas

Trump chairs peace summit in Egypt

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Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza this morning, a top official from the Palestinian militant group told AFP, before US President Donald Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region.

As part of the deal’s first phase, Hamas, whose deadly attacks on Israel on Oct 7, 2023 sparked the conflict, will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed,’ Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP in an interview Saturday.

Mr Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh this afternoon, the Egyptian presidency announced.

The meeting will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability’ it said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he will attend, as has Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Miloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron.