By Israel has declared a controversial “victory” in its protracted conflict with Hamas, setting the stage for a major hostage-for-prisoner exchange just hours before a high-stakes peace summit, to be hosted by US President Donald Trump in Egypt.
The planned exchange, a key component of the proposed US roadmap, involves Hamas releasing its surviving hostages in return for Israel freeing approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees. However, last-minute friction marred the final arrangements late Sunday, with Hamas sources informing AFP that the militant group was demanding the inclusion of seven senior Palestinian leaders on the release list, a sticking point for Israeli negotiators.
Despite the haggling, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed supreme confidence. “This is an emotional evening, an evening of tears, an evening of joy, because tomorrow our children will return to our borders,” Netanyahu said, framing the move as a major military achievement. Echoing the sentiment, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir claimed the “military pressure we applied over the past two years, together with complementary diplomatic measures, constitutes a victory over Hamas.”
An Israeli soldier stands near military vehicles, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, at the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel October 12, 2025.
The release is anticipated to commence early Monday, with Israel “expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time,” according to a spokeswoman for Netanyahu’s office, Shosh Bedrosian.
The focus now shifts to Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian Red Sea resort town, where President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are scheduled to co-chair a summit. Leaders from over 20 countries, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the King of Jordan, and several European prime ministers, are expected to attend, though neither Israeli nor Hamas officials will be present.
The Egyptian presidency confirmed the summit aims “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.” The full plan calls for Hamas to release the remaining 47 hostages, both living and deceased, who were abducted during the cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,219 people. In exchange, Israel will release prisoners, including 250 security detainees convicted of various offenses, along with approximately 1,700 Palestinians detained in Gaza during the recent campaign.
People celebrate at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv as negotiators prepare to sign a hostage-ceasefire deal, October 9, 2025.
As the ceasefire entered its third day, the precarious nature of the calm was evident. Reports from Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, detailed chaotic scenes of desperate, starving residents ransacking limited aid shipments, with food parcels often being trampled. For Gazans like Mahmud al-Muzain, the scramble for food underscores a profound lack of faith in the US-led negotiations to bring about lasting peace. “Everyone fears the war will return,” he told AFP. “We stockpile food out of fear and worry that the war will come back.”
Meanwhile, displaced residents are returning to find total devastation. Fatima Salem, 38, described a landscape erased by the conflict: “My eyes kept searching for landmarks I had lost, nothing looked the same, even the neighbours’ houses were gone.”
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, the Israeli campaign has resulted in the deaths of at least 67,806 people, a figure the United Nations considers credible. The data highlights the staggering toll on the civilian population, indicating that more than half of the deceased are women and children.
Palestinians, who were displaced to the southern part of Gaza at Israel’s order during the war, make their way following their arrival in Gaza City after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, October 10, 2025.
Mediators face the difficult task of securing a long-term solution. A source close to Hamas’s negotiating committee indicated the movement has suffered significant losses but remains unbroken, stating that while it agrees to a long-term truce, it “will not lay down its weapons.”
The proposed US plan includes a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, to be replaced by a multinational force coordinated through a US-led command center in Israel.
Displaced Palestinian children carry a water container amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, October 12, 2025.
