October 11, 2025 | 12:06 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A senior member of Hamas said on Friday that a prisoner exchange with Israel may begin on Monday, October 13, 2025, based on the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
"The prisoner swap might start on Monday," said Mousa Abu Marzouk in a televised interview as quoted by Anadolu.
He stated that Hamas has no intention to militarize or celebrate the prisoner handover process openly.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel came into effect at 12:00 noon local time on Friday, based on a peace proposal for Gaza by United States President Donald Trump.
According to the agreement document published by the Israeli public broadcasting agency, KAN, Hamas will release Israeli prisoners still alive within 72 hours of Israel ratifying the agreement.
The document also stipulates that Hamas will provide all available information about deceased Israeli prisoners to a joint mechanism to be formed with the participation of Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Israeli estimates indicate that 48 Israeli prisoners are still in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Meanwhile, over 11,100 Palestinian citizens are detained in Israeli prisons, where they experience torture, hunger, and medical neglect. Many have died, according to reports from Palestinian and Israeli media and human rights organizations.
Mousa Abu Marzouk said Hamas holds many negotiation cards.
"The prisoner file is one of the pretexts used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to justify continuing the war in Gaza," he said.
The Hamas leader said his group is working with mediators "to overcome obstacles and secure the release of Palestinian leaders detained in Israeli prisons."
Withdrawal Line
Mousa Abu Marzouk said the Israeli army has withdrawn to the "yellow line" but still controls 53 percent of the Gaza Strip.
"The withdrawal lines set by the occupation are inaccurate and drawn arbitrarily," he said. "Hamas will not accept any future Israeli presence in areas it currently controls."
Mousa Abu Marzouk revealed that the U.S. sent troops to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.
"These troops will not be stationed inside Gaza, but rather in Israel," he said.
He said the next stage will focus on a "national project" and discussions on the potential deployment of peacekeeping forces in Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinian Internal Files
Mousa Abu Marzouk urged the Palestinian Authority to hold a comprehensive national meeting to reach a consensus on major national issues, emphasizing that unity is the only way out of the Palestinian crisis.
He said Hamas accepts Trump's ceasefire plan "to safeguard the supreme interests of the Palestinian people."
"Hamas will not decide the fate of the Palestinian people alone — it is a collective and national decision that requires full consensus," he stated.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a 20-point plan he had outlined on September 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, free all Israeli prisoners held there in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.
The second phase of the plan calls for the formation of a new governance mechanism in Gaza without Hamas' participation, the formation of security forces consisting of Palestinian citizens and forces from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinian residents in the enclave, most of them women and children, and made it uninhabitable.
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