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Hamas begins handing over Israeli hostages

Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Gaza on Monday, with a convoy of the humanitarian organisation on its way to pick up a second group.In Tel Aviv, a huge crowd gathered to support hostage families erupted in joy, tears and song as news broke of the first releases, which came after two years of war in Gaza.Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas is due to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.The releases came as Trump arrived in Israel for a lightning visit ahead of a trip to Egypt for a peace summit, having declared the war “over”.”According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages have been transferred into their custody, and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military and security service said. In a later statement, the army said a Red Cross convoy was on its way to pick up a second group of hostages.Among those gathered on Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Noga shared her pain and joy with AFP.”I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she said.- ‘Nothing looked the same’ -On October 7, 2023, militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians. All but 47 of the hostages were freed in earlier truces, with the families of those who have remained in captivity leading lives of constant pain and worry for their loved ones.In Gaza, too, the ceasefire has brought relief, but with much of the territory flattened by war, the road to recovery remains long.”I returned to Sheikh Radwan with my heart trembling,” 38-year-old Fatima Salem told AFP after she returned to her neighbourhood in Gaza City. “My eyes kept searching for landmarks I had lost — nothing looked the same, even the neighbours’ houses were gone. “Despite the exhaustion and fear, I felt like I was coming back to my safe place. I missed the smell of my home, even if it’s now just rubble. We will pitch a tent next to it and wait for reconstruction.”- ‘War is over. Okay?’ -Trump’s visit to the Middle East aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal — but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next.Under the US president’s proposed roadmap, once the Palestinian militants have handed over the surviving hostages, Israel will begin releasing around 2,000 detainees in exchange.Israel expects all 20 living hostages to be released to the Red Cross “early Monday morning”, according to a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure.”I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting. “The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added.In Israel, Trump is due to meet the families of hostages, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.- Final details -His trip is partly a victory lap over the Gaza deal he helped broker with a 20-point peace plan announced in late September.”Everybody’s very excited about this moment in time,” Trump said earlier as he prepared to board the plane at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.Negotiators were still wrangling late Sunday over the final arrangements for the exchanges, with two Hamas sources telling AFP the group was insisting that Israel include seven senior Palestinian leaders on the list of those to be released.Israel has previously rejected at least one of those names.The sources said the group and its allies had nevertheless “completed all preparations” for handing over to Israel all the living hostages.Israel does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned on Monday.Under the plan, Hamas is to hand over the remaining 47 hostages, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza war. Among the prisoners to be released, 250 are security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.- Peace summit -After visiting Israel, Trump will head to Egypt, where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan — including Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory.Trump insisted he had “guarantees” from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages.Trump also said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza itself, but did not say when such a difficult security challenge would be possible.A new governing body for devastated Gaza — which Trump himself would head under his own plan — would be established “very quickly,” he added.Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel.Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,806 people, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers credible.The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Tears, joy in Israel as Hamas hands over first hostages

Hundreds of people gathered on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square erupted in joy, tears and song as news broke that Hamas had handed over the first hostages to be released on Monday after two years of captivity in Gaza.Many had come at sunrise, carrying pictures of the hostages and waving Israeli flags bearing a yellow ribbon, a symbol of the movement calling for the hostages’ release.Noga, who wore a badge that read “Last day”, shared her pain and joy with AFP.”I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she says.Hamas and its militant allies took hostage 251 people hostage into Gaza during the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.Many of them were released in earlier truces, but 47 people seized on October 7 remained in Gaza. Only 20 of them are alive.Since that day, Noga has worn a small badge each day, counting the days of their captivity.For the past two years, people have held frequent rallies and gatherings over the past two years on a Tel Aviv square that has become known as Hostages Square.Over the months it has become the nerve centre of the campaign to free the hostages.When the news broke that the first seven had been released, the square broke out in cheers and song.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main organisation representing relatives of captives, had called on people to gather at the site — evoking the yellow ribbons.As the war in the Gaza Strip has dragged on, the ribbons became ubiquitous in public spaces in Israel, from roundabouts to car door handles and stroller grips.— ‘Very moved’ —”Our struggle is not over. It will not end until the last hostage is located and returned for proper burial. This is our moral obligation. Only then will the people of Israel be whole,” the forum said in a statement.Emilie Moatti, a former Labour MP and one of the founders of the forum, told AFP she was “very moved”, gesturing toward the crowd and struggling to hold back tears.On giant screens, Israeli television channels broadcast footage from previous rallies at this same spot.The song Habayta (“Homeward” in Hebrew), playing on a loop through the loudspeakers, resonated differently with the crowd on Monday, as for the first time in months wishes for the hostages’ return were about to come true.The song dates back to the 1980s and was originally dedicated to Israeli soldiers fighting in Lebanon.The return to Israel of the hostages marks the first step in the ceasefire plan brokered by US President Donald Trump.In exchange, Israel is due to free nearly 2,000 prisoners held in its jails, most of them Gazans detained since the start of the war.

China trade beats forecasts in September as tariff fears rise

China’s trade grew faster than expected last month, official data showed Monday, though fresh fears are rising of a major escalation in the tariff war between Beijing and Washington.The world’s second-largest economy has in recent years been mired in a persistent domestic spending slump just as pressure on its export-reliant manufacturing sector intensifies.Clouding the outlook, …

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