A top Hamas official tells AFP that the release of the 48 hostages held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza will begin on Monday morning.

“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed, and there are no new developments on this matter,” Osama Hamdan says in an interview with AFP.

Following the return of the hostages from Gaza, Israel will proceed with the release of about 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, according to the terms of the first stage of a ceasefire deal signed by the two parties under US mediation.

Hamas has previously said that it will likely have difficulty locating the bodies of some of the deceased hostages within the 72-hour deadline, and Israel is aware of this.

There are believed to be 20 living hostages and 28 who are dead.