A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Oct. 12 ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and an address by President Donald Trump to Israel’s parliament.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hopeful the ceasefire would bring an end to the war.
“There is a lot of joy among the people,” said Abdou Abu Seada, adding that the joy was tempered by exhaustion after two years of war that has destroyed much of Gaza.
Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said that Israel expected the hostages to start being released early on Oct. 13 with the 20 living hostages to be released together.
In the event that hostages were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said. Their release is to be followed later by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages.
Trump due to address the Knesset
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Oct. 13 to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on October 7, 2023, when the group’s militants launched the surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war.
Israel’s hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch said a task force would be formed to help find the remains of any dead hostages that Hamas could not locate.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Oct. 13 to address the Knesset, the parliament, before traveling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner addressed a rally in Tel Aviv on Oct. 11, which many Israelis hoped would be the final one urging the release of hostages and end to the war.
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.
“For two years we (have been) waiting for this day for this moment… All of us feel happy for the family, for the hostages, that finally .. we will see them,” said demonstrator Dalia Yosef, thanking Trump.
