HAMAS AND ISRAEL will exchange captives on Monday morning, with Israel set to release 250 of the 2,000 Palestinians it has held captive in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The exchange is part of the ceasefire deal’s first phase and will take place before US President Donald Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region.

“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.

According to the plan, Israel will release 250 prisoners and around 1,700 Gazans held captive since the war.

People in Israel and Palestine are celebrating the return of their loved ones.

Yesterday tens of thousands of Israelis gathered beneath a screen in Tel Aviv marking 735 days since Hamas took hostages to Gaza.

“My emotions are immense, there are no words to describe them – for me, for us, for all of Israel, which wants the hostages home and waits to see them all return,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of 25-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker.

Israel has drawn up a list of 250 names of Palestinians expected to be freed. Among these include Abdel Jawad and Mohammed, two sons jailed for the past 34 years.

“Today I’m so happy the world feels too small for my joy,” declared their elated mother, 83-year-old Halima Shamasneh.

“People called us and said: ‘Their names are on the list — they’re out, they’re registered’,” she said.

Summit

Following the captive exchange 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 on Monday 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.

There was no immediate word on whether Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be there while Hamas said it would not take part as it had “acted principally through… Qatari and Egyptian mediators” during talks, Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said.

With additional reporting from AFP