Hamas deploys fighters as hostages released, in show of strength

CAIRO: Hamas deployed fighters in Gaza on Monday as a release of hostages seized in the October 7 attacks was under way, Reuters footage showed, in an apparent show of strength by the armed group which President Donald Trump says must disarm.

AI Brief

Hamas fighters, including elite "Shadow Unit", guarding hostages at a Gaza hospital.
Israel has killed thousands of Hamas fighters and leaders during its two-year offensive.
Hostage-prisoner exchange begins under Trump's plan, with a ceasefire in place and future talks to address Hamas disarmament.

Reuters footage showed dozens of Hamas fighters lined up at a hospital in southern Gaza, and an armed man wearing the insignia of the Hamas armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. His shoulder patch identified him as a member of the elite "Shadow Unit", which Hamas sources say is tasked with guarding hostages.

Israel has pummelled Hamas during its two-year-long Gaza offensive, killing thousands of its fighters and many of its leaders in the onslaught that turned much of the Palestinian territory into a wasteland.

Israel's military said it had received the first seven of 20 surviving hostages after their transfer out of Gaza by the Red Cross. The remaining 13 confirmed living hostages, along with the bodies of 26 dead hostages and another two whose fate is unknown, are also expected to be released on Monday, along with nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.

The release of the remaining hostages in Gaza along with the Palestinian prisoners is the first stage of Trump's plan for ending the Gaza war. A ceasefire has been in place since Friday.

The next phase of negotiations must address demands for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, the territory it has controlled since expelling President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority in 2007.