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Reuters reports that the list of Palestinians whom Hamas wants freed is expected to include some of the most prominent prisoners ever jailed by Israel, whose release had been off-limits in previous ceasefires. That includes:

Also on the list, according to Al Arabiya, is Abdullah Barghouti, known as the “Engineer of Hamas,” serving 67 life sentences for directing multiple bombings in Israel. Then there is Abbas Al-Sayyid, convicted for the 2002 Park Hotel bombing in Netanya, and Hassan Salameh, a senior commander in Hamas’s armed wing.

Israeli security sources told Euronews Wednesday that releasing those three is “a red line the negotiating team won’t cross.”

As we’ve mentioned, the Israeli cabinet is meeting tonight to decide whether to ratify the ceasefire deal. Earlier, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned his Jewish Power party would push to topple Netanyahu’s government unless Hamas is ultimately dismantled as part of the peace plan.

Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both have significant influence in Netanyahu's government and have threatened to bring it down if the Gaza war ends.

Canada, along with other Western countries, has issued sanctions targeting both ministers for what it has characterized as repeated incitements of violence against Palestinians.

“All our lives just stopped on Oct. 7th, and we hope to rebuild it now when everybody's back,” said Alon Pauker, who lost more than 130 friends and neighbours in the Be'eri Kibbutz

He told host Nil Köksal there are no survivors from Be'eri among the remaining hostages in Gaza. But he’s hopeful that under the terms of the new ceasefire agreement, his neighbours’ bodies will be returned and laid to rest at long last.

He has also held hope that two brothers he knows from another kibbutz — Ariel Cunio and David Cunio, believed to be held hostage in Gaza — will come home alive.

“The fight to bring them back is the fight to go on with our lives,” he said.

Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson with the International Committee of the Red Cross, has also said the group, which facilitated previous exchanges, is ready to act as an intermediary for hostages to be released to Israel and for Palestinian detainees to be allowed back into Gaza.

A post on the Red Cross website states that once parties reach an agreement, the group’s role is to safely facilitate the transfer of released hostages out of Gaza to an agreed-upon location.

“Carrying out this function is a complex mission and requires logistical, medical and security expertise. It also requires being trusted as a neutral intermediary by all parties.”

Trump said the hostage release is a complicated process, adding "they are in places you don't want to be."

But he claimed it will be happening Monday or Tuesday. He said there are also the remains of about 28 hostages to be brought back, but he didn’t offer details or timing.

So while we don’t know for sure when the exchange could happen, we do know the initial phase of the agreement is predicated on all living Israeli hostages being released within 72 hours of the start of a ceasefire. Some 250 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are also to be released, along with 1,700 Gazans detained by Israel during the war.

By agreeing to release all the hostages, Hamas may have given up its biggest bargaining chip. So why did they do it?

“Hamas may have decided to cash in its most valuable card at a time when mediators were eager for a resolution — leveraging this moment for maximum gain.”

Barak said Hamas likely doesn’t view this as a loss. It secured humanitarian aid, reconstruction support for Gaza, Israeli military withdrawal from certain areas, the release of Palestinian prisoners and long-term ceasefire guarantees.

This could help Hamas reassert its political and operational standing and allow it to regroup and rebuild, he said.

As well, Hamas was under intense pressure from Qatar, Egypt, the U.S and especially Turkey to accept the deal, Barak said.

Hamas trusts that Turkey will safeguard its interests after the deal is implemented, and that includes protecting Hamas leaders politically and diplomatically, he said.

In his remarks, Al-Hayya said Hamas has received guarantees from the U.S., Arab mediators and Turkey that the war on Gaza has permanently ended.

The group's leader the agreement will also see Israel’s release of all jailed Palestinian women and children, as well as the eventual reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Al-Hayya did not say when that crossing would reopen. He did not speak about other terms of the deal, including whether Hamas would lay down its arms or who would govern the Gaza Strip post-war.

In a post to Telegram, Hamas said its leader Khalil al-Hayya will provide a statement on the ceasefire.

Al-Hayya was among those targeted in Israel’s attack on Hamas headquarters in Qatar last month. He is involved in indirect talks with Israel on ending the war through mediation in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Based in Qatar with the rest of Hamas’s leadership, al-Hayya lost his son during this war and his two other sons in previous conflicts.

Earlier, we reported that explosions were seen in Gaza, despite reports of the first phase of the peace plan having been signed by Israel and Hamas.

Israeli strikes continued today, though at a scaled-back pace in comparison to the frequency of attacks in the days before negotiations resumed this week.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 11 Palestinians were killed and 49 wounded by Israeli fire and brought to hospitals in Gaza in the past 24 hours, a figure far below the daily death toll in recent weeks, which had mounted during Israel’s all-out assault on Gaza City

Last Friday, Trump had demanded Israel halt its bombing when Hamas first indicated partial acceptance for his 20-point plan. But airstrikes and shelling on Gaza, particularly in and around Gaza City, continued in the following days.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says that in the last several months, aid partners have only been able to deliver 20 per cent of what’s needed to address the famine throughout the Gaza Strip.

For the past 12 hours, Fletcher says the UN has been in direct contact with Israeli officials to bring in aid from the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt and Cyprus.

Fletcher noted that the estimated 170,000 tonnes of aid is just the tip of the iceberg to address what’s needed in Gaza.

"So every government, every state, every individual who has been watching this crisis unfold and wondering, ‘What can we do? If only there is something we can do,' Now is the time to make that generosity count," he said. "And I plead with the level of kindness and generosity that, frankly, the world owes right now."

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