Hamas

Details of the planned exchange emerged as US President Donald Trump continued to talk up his widely criticised proposal to move all Palestinians out of Gaza and redevelop the Strip as an international travel destination.

It is the first visit of a foreign leader during President Trump’s second term and comes amid waning support for Netanyahu inside Israel.

A three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took hold in January after months of painstaking negotiations.

The militants released Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54, in an orderly handover to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip.

The hostages were taken into Gaza following Hamas’ attack on 7 October last year, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage overall.

Hundreds of Palestinians began gathering in Wadi Gaza on Saturday hoping to cross back to their homes into the northern part of the Strip.

The families of the released Israeli hostages delivered a joint statement expressing gratitude after being reunited with their loved ones.

The Palestinian militant group made public on Friday the names of the next four hostages that it plans to release as part of the ceasefire deal signed with Israel. Israel is expected to publish a list of its own, naming Palestinian prisoners it will release in return.

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would complete an investigation into the 2023 attack by Hamas before he steps down in March.

According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs all of those released are women or minors.