Red Cross head visits Gaza amid reports of imminent hostage release

Amid reports of an imminent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Gaza on Monday for a series of meetings.

Mirjana Spoljaric landed in Israel on Sunday and entered Gaza on Monday as part of her five-day visit, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.

The Red Cross was involved in the hostage releases that took place in November and December of 2023 as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Spoljaric’s last visit to Gaza was in December of 2023.

The report did not say whether the visit was connected to the prospect of Israeli hostages being released. Spoljaric met with relatives of hostages on Sunday in Israel, the news site Walla reported.  

Spoljaric visited al-Naja camp in Gaza and met with displaced Palestinians, who told her about the “devastating reality” of being a civilian in the Strip, according to an ICRC statement.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Hamas had accepted a draft ceasefire agreement, however, Israel’s government did not immediately confirm that a deal had been reached.

The proposed three-phase deal would begin with the gradual release of 33 hostages—including women, children, elderly individuals and wounded civilians—over a 42-day period, in exchange for potentially hundreds of Palestinian women and children detained by Israel, according to AP.

The 33 hostages would include five female Israeli soldiers, each exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 serving life sentences for security offenses.

During this initial phase, Israeli forces would withdraw from population centers, displaced Palestinians would begin returning to their homes in northern Gaza, and humanitarian aid would significantly increase, with approximately 600 trucks entering the region daily.