Ceasefire holds in Gaza ahead of hostage release
Trump arrives in Egypt today for peace summit
Published: 06:10 PM,Oct 12,2025 | EDITED : 10:10 PM,Oct 12,2025
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Sunday, ahead of the expected release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners and an address by US 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 that 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 captives to start being released early on Monday morning, with the 20 living captives to be released together.
In the event that captives were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said. Their release is to be followed later by the handover of the bodies of the remaining 28 deceased captives.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining captives.
Israel's captives coordinator Gal Hirsch last Thursday said a task force would be formed to help find the remains of any dead ones that Hamas could not locate.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Monday to address the Knesset, the parliament, before travelling 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 Saturday, which many Israelis hoped would be the final one, urging the release of captives and an end to the war.
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, mediated what has been described as a first-phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of captives by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.
The Israel Prison Service said it had transferred some Palestinian prisoners to other facilities ahead of their expected release. The Israeli Ministry of Justice has released the names of 250 Palestinians who are to be freed under the deal.
Israel is also to release 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and 22 Palestinian minors, along with the bodies of 360 fighters. Israeli government spokesperson Bedrosian said the prisoners would be released once the living captives reach Israeli territory.