Set time and place to release Israeli hostages in Gaza; Hamas and Israel both declare not to attend peace agreement signing ceremony
The Gaza peace plan promoted by US President Donald Trump appears to be facing a major obstacle just before the G-hour. On the morning of October 13, representatives of both the Hamas Islamist movement and Israeli officials announced that they would not attend the signing ceremony in Egypt. Hamas called the demand to expel its members from Gaza "absurd".
Just hours before the signing ceremony scheduled to take place in Egypt today (October 13), representatives of the Islamic movement Hamas announced that they would not attend, and expressed deep concern about some provisions of the US-brokered peace agreement.
Al-Arabiya news agency quoted Hamas spokesman Husam Badran as saying: "Hamas will not participate in the signing process. Only mediators and American and Israeli officials will be present."
However, in a more surprising development, the spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ms. Shosh Bedrosian, was also quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "No Israeli officials attended" this summit.
The absence of both main parties in the conflict is raising big questions about the future of the peace deal.
The main cause of Hamas's opposition is the controversial provision on the disarmament and removal of the group's members from the Gaza Strip.
"Talking about expelling Palestinians, whether they are Hamas members or not, from their land is nonsense and nonsense," Husam Badran stressed, describing the implementation of the second phase of the peace plan as "complicated and difficult".
The deal, announced by President Trump in late September, includes a 20-point roadmap that would see Israel withdraw completely from Gaza in exchange for Hamas disarming, not participating in the government, and the area becoming a “de-extremism, terrorism-free zone” under the management of an international transitional government.
The announcement came after both Israel and Hamas announced an end to the conflict that has been going on since October 7, 2023. The war began when Hamas launched attacks on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials, and plunged the region into a deep humanitarian crisis.
The current deal also includes Hamas returning the remaining 48 Israeli hostages (both dead and alive), in exchange for Israel releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gaza detainees from 2023.
The fragility of the current ceasefire has been highlighted by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent comments that the IDF could resume operations in Gaza if Hamas refuses to disarm. Several members of the Israeli government coalition have also spoken out against any concessions to Hamas.
Set time and place to release Israeli hostages in Gaza, starting at 12 noon today (Vietnam time)
On the morning of October 13, a series of Israeli media agencies simultaneously reported that the process of returning Israeli hostages held in Gaza is expected to begin at 8:00 a.m. (local time), which is 12:00 noon today, Vietnam time.
Accordingly, the first location is the Netzarim corridor. This process will continue at 10:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. Vietnam time) in the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip.
