Gaza, MINA — A senior Hamas official announced Friday that a long-anticipated prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel could begin as early as Monday under the newly implemented Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“The prisoner swap might start on Monday,” said Mousa Abou Marzouq in a televised interview, adding that Hamas would not militarize or publicly celebrate the handover process of captives.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, part of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, took effect at 12:00 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Friday.
According to the agreement document released by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Hamas is required to release all living Israeli captives within 72 hours of Israel’s ratification of the deal. The document also stipulates that Hamas must provide information about deceased captives to a joint committee involving Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
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Israeli estimates suggest that 48 Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. Meanwhile, more than 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, where reports from both Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups cite cases of torture, starvation, medical neglect, and deaths in custody.
Abou Marzouq said Hamas holds “many negotiating cards,” calling the prisoner file one of the excuses used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prolong the war.
He added that Hamas continues to work with mediators to overcome remaining obstacles and secure the release of prominent Palestinian prisoners.
Abou Marzouq revealed that Israeli forces have withdrawn to what he described as the “yellow line,” but still control around 53% of Gaza’s territory.
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“The withdrawal lines set by the occupation are inaccurate and drawn arbitrarily,” he said, stressing that Hamas would not accept any future Israeli military presence in areas under its control.
He also disclosed that US troops have been deployed to monitor the ceasefire’s implementation but only from inside Israel, not Gaza.
The Hamas official said the next phase of the agreement would focus on the national project, including talks on a potential peacekeeping force deployment in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Calling for unity, Abou Marzouq urged the Palestinian Authority to convene a national meeting to reach consensus on key political and security issues.
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“Hamas accepted Trump’s ceasefire plan to safeguard the supreme interests of the Palestinian people,” he said. “We will not decide the fate of the Palestinian people alone — it requires collective national consensus.”
Trump announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a 20-point plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza. The plan includes the exchange of all Israeli captives for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave.
The second phase outlines the formation of a new governing body in Gaza without Hamas participation, the creation of a Palestinian-Arab security force, and the disarmament of Hamas. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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