According to Reuters, Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and to carry out a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange to achieve a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The two hostages in Rafah have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and driven away in its vehicles.

Tal Shoham with Hamas gunmen on the stage in Rafah.

Militants have led two people on to the stage in Rafah, with reports suggesting they are Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu. They are standing holding apparent certificates and flanked by masked gunmen.

A masked militant has sat down at a table on the stage with a Red Cross representative and they appear to be signing documents.

Live images from Rafah are showing masked Hamas fighters taking to the makeshift stage, with one speaking into a microphone.

A Hamas source has confirmed that the Islamist group plans to release two hostages from Rafah, southern Gaza, and then four from Nuseirat in central Gaza later in the morning, Agence France-Presse reports.

The news agency continues:

At both locations the militants prepared for a now well-rehearsed ceremony, building stages to parade the hostages to be released in front of large posters advertising its cause or praising fallen fighters.

The Red Cross has repeatedly appealed for handovers to take place in a dignified manner.

Under a cold winter rain in Rafah, Hamas fighters wearing military fatigues, balaclavas and Hamas headbands stood in a square around the space where the handover was to occur.

In a show of force after months of bombardment and strikes that killed the group’s top leaders, some fighters held automatic weapons, others rocket launchers.

Hamas’s green flag flew around the square on buildings destroyed by war in the Palestinian territory.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said Israel would free 602 inmates on Saturday as part of the exchange.

A spokeswoman for the NGO told AFP that most were Gazans arrested after the war began. She added that 108 of the prisoners would be deported outside of Israel and the Palestinian territories after their release.

Images from Rafah are showing a convoy of Red Cross vehicles arriving at the scene as crowds and armed, masked militants stand nearby.

A convoy of Red Cross vehicles is now heading to a hostage handover site set up by Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Times of Israel is quoting an Israeli defense official as saying.

The Red Cross is expected to receive two hostages there, the report says. According to Al Jazeera, hostages Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu will be freed in Rafah. The other four – Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert and Hisham al-Sayed – will be released later in Nuseirat, central Gaza.

The Times is also reporting that at the Rafah handover location, Hamas is displaying weaponry it claims was stolen from the Israeli military in the October 2023 attack that sparked the war.

The report says:

On the stage prepared by Hamas in Rafah are the usual placards with messages including “We are the flood” as well as military weapons and equipment the group claims were stolen from the IDF on October 7 2023.

One piece is a gun on which the group wrote “Ravshatz”, the Hebrew acronym for the head of a community’s local security team, indicating it was taken from such an individual killed by terrorists during the October 7 attack.

Israelis are gathering in Tel Aviv as they wait for the anticipated release of six hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza. These images have come in from Israel:

The Israeli military expects Hamas to release the six Israeli hostages from two separate locations in Gaza starting from 9am local time, the Times of Israel is reporting a defence official as saying.

Hamas will first release hostages from southern Gaza’s Rafah and afterwards from Nuseirat in the Strip’s centre.

The official says there could be delays.

The six hostages will be taken by the Red Cross to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, the report says.

From there, the troops will escort them to an army facility near Re’im for an initial checkup and to meet with family members before they are airlifted to Sourasky and Rabin hospitals in central Israel.

Al Jazeera reports that two of the hostages will be freed in Rafah, while the other four will be released in Nuseirat.

Here are some of the images coming in from Gaza ahead of the expected handover.

Israeli media reports in the past hour said Hamas was setting up stages in southern and central Gaza ahead of the expected release of six Israeli hostages this morning.

Live images from Gaza are showing crowds gathering and armed, masked militants grouped at the scene.

Opening summary