Hamas hands over all Israeli hostages alive and fulfills stage of agreement

This Monday (13), Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages it held in the Gaza Strip, while Israel began the release of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted and detained during the war.

The exchange, mediated by the United States and supervised by the International Red Cross, formally ends two years of conflict and marks the first stage of the ceasefire agreement signed in Egypt under the 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.

The Israeli hostages were handed over in two stages — seven in the morning and thirteen in the afternoon — and transferred to the Re’im military base, where they underwent identity verification and medical examinations before being taken to hospitals.

In videos released by Israeli broadcasters, they appear walking without assistance and in good health.

As part of the agreement, the Israeli army confirmed that the bodies of the dead hostages have not yet been repatriated, although half are expected to be returned by the end of the week. The list includes the remains of a soldier killed in 2014.

In return, Israel began to release 1,966 Palestinians, of which 1,716 are Gaza residents and 250 were serving life sentences. Part of the group was released at the Ofer penitentiary, in the West Bank, and another at the Nasser Medical Complex, in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Buses carrying freed Palestinians arrived in Ramallah to applause and chants of “Allahu akbar” — “God is greatest.” Images from Reuters show family members hugging the freed men amid the presence of military and police officers.

The crowd celebrated the return of prisoners held since the first days of the Israeli offensive in October 2023.

The reunion scenes, however, were accompanied by news that 154 of the freed Palestinians would be deported, according to the Hamas Prisoners’ Media Office.

Experts in international law classified the forced exile of freed Palestinians as illegal.

“It is inhumane, because they are citizens of Palestine and they are being sent to countries where they will face severe restrictions,” Tamer Qarmout, professor at the Doha Postgraduate Institute, told Al Jazera.

Exile, according to him, “means the end of their political lives”.

In a statement, the group stated that “the delivery of the hostages was carried out in compliance with President Donald Trump’s plan” and demanded that the mediators guarantee “the full execution of Israeli obligations”.

Hamas also released videos and telephone calls between hostages and their families before their release, in an unprecedented gesture. The Red Cross confirmed that it supervised the exchange.

The operation coincided with Trump’s arrival in Israel. The American president was received with honors at Ben Gurion Airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

In Parliament, he received a standing ovation when he spoke about the ceasefire and reiterated that “the war is over”.

Trump said he believes the agreement “will hold” and will travel to Egypt to preside over the international peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, alongside foreign leaders. Netanyahu will not participate in the meeting.

The ceasefire provides for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the expansion of the entry of humanitarian aid and the creation of an international monitoring force.

Trump’s plan, presented as a definitive solution, does not yet specify deadlines for the disarmament of Hamas or the end of deportations. For the Palestinian movement, the simultaneous release of prisoners is proof that resistance forced Israel to negotiate.

In Ramallah and Gaza, families celebrated the return of relatives, while others face the weight of forced separation. “The news was a shock, but what matters is that he was released, here or abroad,” said Raed Imran, brother of one of the deportees.

The simultaneous release of hostages and prisoners marks the end of one of the most lethal conflicts in recent history and symbolizes, at the same time, the structural inequality that produced it.

As Israelis return home to applause and cameras, thousands of Palestinians leave prisons heading into exile, not knowing whether they will ever see their families or their land again.