The agreement sealing peace in Gaza comes into force : central to this is the agreement on the hostages, which Hamas will have to return to Israel. It is estimated that more than two years after the massacre of Israelis perpetrated on October 7, 2023, Palestinian terrorist groups are still holding 48 men and women prisoners in Gaza , including two Americans. And we are talking about terrorist groups and not just Hamas precisely because the Islamist movement has"handed them over" to other organizations present in the Strip. Point 4 of the agreement states:"Within 72 hours of Israel's public acceptance of this agreement, all hostages, living and deceased, will be returned." However, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, during the negotiations Hamas made it known that it needed at least 10 days to locate the bodies of the dead Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. Channel 12 then adds, citing Israeli sources, that if Hamas were unable to recover the bodies of the dead hostages, then a multinational force established by the Coordinator for Prisoners will be deployed and will operate in the Gaza Strip to recover the bodies whose burial places are known to the IDF. This is a force composed of Qatar, Egypt, United States and Israel that will operate inside the Strip; Israel will provide heavy engineering equipment to carry out the operations. Tensions over the release of the hostages in Israel are very high: large crowds of people poured into the square in Tel Aviv awaiting the signing of the peace agreement in Sharm el-Sheik. But beyond what was agreed upon at the negotiating table, the actual practical implementation of the return of the hostages, both dead and alive, remains to be seen.

Prisoner-Hostage Swap – Israel will release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 20 live hostages, a senior Hamas official told AFP, adding that the detainees include 250 lifers and 1,700 other people arrested since the start of the war. The exchange is expected to take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the agreement, which was"also agreed upon with the Palestinian factions". A Palestinian source told the Saudi-run Al-Sharq channel that the release of the hostages and prisoners held by Israel will begin"within 72 hours of the agreement coming into force". The broadcaster cites well-informed sources as saying this will happen next week. Another Saudi channel, Al-Hadath, reports that the 72-hour countdown to the hostages' release will begin after Israeli troops withdraw along agreed-upon lines in Gaza, which will happen once the agreement is ratified by Israel. The agreement provides for"scheduled withdrawals" of Israeli troops, the AFP source said, and includes"guarantees from President Trump and the mediators." The Palestinian source cited by al-Sharq states that, under the agreement, Israeli forces will withdraw from the Rafah crossing and its vicinity, and that the agreement also provides for the transfer of Palestinian patients and wounded to Egypt for treatment; furthermore, the Rafah crossing will be open in both directions once the agreement enters into force. During the first five days of the ceasefire, at least 400 trucks of aid would enter the Gaza Strip daily, with the number increasing in the following days. It also provides for the"immediate return of displaced persons from the southern Gaza Strip to Gaza City and the north."