The release of living Israeli hostages from Gaza has begun, according to the Red Cross. Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel will also be freed as part of the first crucial phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

US President Donald Trump is heading to Israel, where he is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later today and address the country’s parliament. Trump will also meet some of the families of the hostages.

Trump will then head to Egypt, where leaders from more than 20 countries, including Emmanuel Macron of France and the UK’s Keir Starmer, will join a summit on Gaza’s future.

Twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman were kidnapped by militants from their home in kibbutz Kfar-Aza during the October 7 Hamas attack. They were 26 at the time and have since turned 27.

Speaking to CNN in February 2025, their mother Liran Berman said other hostages who had been released told the family the brothers were alive.

She said the family hadn’t received any information beyond the fact that the brothers were alive and separated.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Gali Berman was planning a trip to Australia before being kidnapped and described him as a skilled handyman with a knack for fixing things.