The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Monday that it had begun an operation in the Gaza Strip to collect the first group of 20 surviving Israeli hostages from Hamas. This marks the initial stage of a landmark ceasefire agreement designed to end the prolonged Gaza conflict, a deal mediated in part by U.S. President Donald Trump.
As part of the agreement, Israel is set to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners later on Monday. The handover of an additional 28 Israeli hostages — including 26 confirmed dead and two whose status remains uncertain — is expected to follow in subsequent stages.
According to officials involved in the process, an ICRC convoy reached the first designated collection point in Gaza to begin the transfer.
The Red Cross is overseeing the operation, which will involve transporting the hostages to Israeli security personnel before they are taken into Israel. Once home, the freed hostages will be reunited with their families and flown by helicopter to hospitals in central Israel for medical evaluation and support.
In Israel, crowds waving national flags gathered near the Reim military base adjacent to Gaza, where the hostages will arrive before being transported to hospitals. Hundreds of supporters also assembled in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, cheering and holding up photographs of those still missing or captured.
In Gaza, Reuters footage showed masked Hamas gunmen from the group’s armed wing stationed outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the sites designated for the handover. Several ambulances and chairs had been arranged in preparation for the transfer operation.
The exchange and ceasefire bring an end to two years of devastating war that expanded into a regional conflict involving Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon. Speaking aboard Air Force One, President Trump declared, “The war is over,” expressing optimism that the region was now on the path to normalization.
