jordan pulse -

Hamas has begun transferring Israeli detainees to the Red Cross in a multi-phase process as part of the first stage of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war and achieve Middle East peace.

Israeli media reported that the Red Cross received seven detainees, later confirmed by the Israeli army.

Earlier Monday, Hamas published the names of 20 Israeli detainees to be released under the first stage of the ceasefire agreement with Israel, while its Prisoners’ Media Office released the names of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in return.

Israel’s Army Radio said Hamas’s list of 20 living detainees matched Israel’s records.

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed receiving the first batch of seven Israeli detainees in Gaza and handing them to Israeli authorities, with the remaining 13 to be released later in the day.

Under the first phase, all 20 living Israeli detainees will be freed, along with 28 bodies recovered gradually from under rubble in Gaza. In return, Israel will release 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,718 detainees from Gaza arrested after the war began on 7 October 2023.

Israeli authorities gathered the released prisoners from five main prisons — 107 from Ofer prison near Ramallah and 143 from Ketziot in the Negev — in preparation for their transfer to Gaza and then Egypt.

The prisoner swap is supervised by a joint Egyptian-Qatari-US committee overseeing the ceasefire implementation.

On Sunday, Israel barred about 100 relatives of the soon-to-be-released prisoners from traveling abroad.

Trump announced the agreement on 9 October as part of the first stage of his Middle East peace plan unveiled on 29 September, which includes ending the Gaza war, Israeli withdrawal, humanitarian aid entry, and prisoner exchange.

Israel’s government approved the ceasefire and prisoner exchange framework the following day, and the truce took effect at noon Friday, starting a 72-hour window to complete the exchange.

According to prisoner groups, Israel holds over 11,000 Palestinians in dire conditions marked by torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with several deaths reported in custody.

Among them are 350 serving life sentences, 40 facing such charges, 53 women (including three from Gaza and two minors), and around 400 children held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Around 3,380 detainees remain held without trial as of October.