Hamas says prisoner exchange with Israel may begin Monday under Gaza ceasefire deal
A senior Hamas official said Friday that a prisoner exchange with Israel could begin as early as Monday under the newly implemented Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“The prisoner swap might start on Monday,” Mousa Abou Marzouq said in a televised interview, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
He said Hamas intends not to militarize or publicly celebrate the handover process of captives.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel took effect at 12:00 pm local time (0900GMT) on Friday under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.
According to the agreement document published by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Hamas will release the living Israeli captives within 72 hours of Israel’s ratification of the deal.
The document also stipulates that Hamas will provide all information it holds on deceased Israeli captives to a joint mechanism to be established with the participation of Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Israeli estimates indicate that 48 Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including 20 alive, while over 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, enduring torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many having died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Abu Marzouq said Hamas holds many negotiating cards.
“The prisoner file is one of the pretexts used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to justify continuing the war in Gaza,” he said.
The Hamas leader said his group is working with mediators “to overcome obstacles and secure the release of Palestinian leaders detained in Israeli prisons.”
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