Gaza welcomes home Palestinian detainees as Trump praises Hamas move on Israeli captive body

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Central Gaza announced on Monday that it had received nine Palestinian detainees released by Israel, shortly after the military said it had recovered the body of the last Israeli captive held in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"Nine Palestinian detainees from Gaza arrived at the hospital a short while ago via Red Cross teams, after the occupation released them today," the hospital said in a statement.

Israeli forces recovered the remains of Ran Gvili on Monday, who was killed during the 7 October attacks, and his body was taken to Gaza.

Hamas said it provided information on the location of Gvili's body, while spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Monday that his recovery "confirms Hamas's commitment to all the requirements of the ceasefire agreement".

The move was praised by US President Donald Trump, who said Hamas "worked very hard to get the body back" but must now disarm, in an interview with Axios.

"They were working with Israel on it. Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised," Trump said.

A US official also echoed a similar sentiment, saying the Palestinian group "was very cooperative".

"[Hamas] fulfilled the obligation that they signed up for," the US official said.

The disarmament of Hamas forms part of phase two of Trump’s 20-point peace plan. A US official said the state believes Hamas' disarmament comes along with some sort of amnesty for the Palestinian group.

"We are listening to many of their people talk about disarming. We think they're going to. If they don't disarm, then they've breached the deal. We think disarmament comes along with some sort of amnesty and candidly, we think we have a very, very good program to disarm," the official said.

Phase two of the ceasefire has been formally announced, but only partially "launched" on the ground.

A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said its minister met Hamas officials in Ankara on Monday and discussed the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and humanitarian conditions in the enclave.

This comes as Israel continues to violate the key terms of the truce deal, as over 468 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the ceasefire on 10 October. Officials have recorded over 1,300 ceasefire violations by Israel.

Two Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire in Gaza City, as well as renewing airstrikes and shelling across the enclave, including Rafah in the south and the eastern areas. Israeli forces also bombarded Khan Younis, and the Israeli navy attacked Palestinian fishing boats off the coast.

At the same time, four Palestinians were killed, and a further three were injured from Israeli shelling east of Gaza City.

Israel’s genocidal war has killed over 71,660 Palestinians since October 2023.