Ceasefire maintained in Gaza

Israel said on Sunday it expected all living hostages held in the Gaza Strip to be released on Monday, confirming the next phase of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, as Palestinians await a long-promised increase in aid deliveries to the enclave.

The details were revealed as the region prepared to host US President Donald Trump’s visit to Israel and Egypt – the latest in a wave of rapid developments since the ceasefire was announced last week, offering hope of an end to the two-year war.

“We hope that our 20 live hostages will be handed over together at the same time to the Red Cross and transported in six to eight vehicles,” Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrosian said, noting that Israel did not expect the militants to organize the exchanges in the same way as previous rounds.

Bedrosian said the hostages would be taken to a military base to reunite with their families or, if necessary, immediately to a hospital.

After the release of the hostages, Israel was prepared to release approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees and receive the 28 hostages believed to be dead. The army plans to hold a ceremony on their behalf in Gaza, Bedrosian added.

The dead should be transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.

An international task force will begin work to locate deceased hostages who will not be returned within the 72-hour deadline, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and the missing.

Authorities said the search for the bodies of the hostages, some of whom may be buried under rubble, could take time.

Meanwhile, on Gaza’s borders, preparations were underway to increase aid entering the war-devastated territory. Israel’s military body responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza said the volume of aid entering the Palestinian territory was expected to increase on Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.

Egypt announced on Sunday that it would send 400 aid trucks to Gaza. Associated Press footage showed dozens of trucks crossing into the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. The Egyptian Red Crescent said the vehicles were carrying medical equipment, tents, blankets, food and fuel. The trucks will head to the Kerem Shalom crossing inspection zone to be checked by Israeli troops.

Intensifying Israeli offensives and restrictions on humanitarian aid have triggered a food crisis, including famine in parts of the territory.

The United Nations said it had about 170,000 tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid ready to enter once Israel gives the green light.

Abeer Etifa, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, said workers were clearing and repairing roads inside Gaza on Sunday to allow deliveries.

The fate of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli and US-backed contractor that replaced the UN humanitarian operation in May as Gaza’s main food supplier, remains unclear.

Food distribution sites run by the group in the southernmost town of Rafah and central Gaza were dismantled following the ceasefire agreement, several Palestinians said on Sunday.

The GHF had been presented by Israel and the United States as an alternative system to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid. However, its operations were mired in chaos and hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as they moved toward its four sites. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots to control the crowds.

A GHF representative said in a statement that some distribution sites may be temporarily closed while the hostages are transferred to Israel, but “there is no change in our long-term plan.”

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, which has the equivalent of 6,000 aid trucks waiting outside in Egypt and Jordan, also had no clarity on its role in stepping up relief efforts. An UNRWA spokesman, Jonathan Fowler, said the organization was “ready” to contribute and had enough food in its warehouses for the entire population of the Gaza Strip for three months.

Trump, who has pushed for a ceasefire deal, is expected to arrive in Israel Monday morning. He will meet the families of the hostages and speak in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, according to a schedule published by the White House.

Trump will next travel to Egypt, where Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s office announced he would co-chair a “peace summit” with regional and international leaders on Monday.

The timing has not yet been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel who are to be released under the agreement. Of these, 250 people are serving life sentences, in addition to 1,700 people captured in Gaza during the war and detained without charge.

Dr Mounir al-Boursh, head of Gaza’s health ministry, said he hoped the bodies of medical staff who died in Israeli detention centers would be among those handed over. He called for the release of two doctors detained in Gaza during the war.

Palestinians continued to return to areas evacuated by Israeli forces on Sunday, although many returned to their homes reduced to ruins.

Satellite photos taken Saturday and analyzed by the Associated Press showed a line of vehicles heading north toward Gaza City along the strip’s coast. Tents along the coast could also be seen near the Gaza City marina, where many live to avoid Israeli bombing of the city.

Armed police from Gaza City and southern Gaza patrolled the streets and secured aid trucks passing through areas from which the Israeli army had withdrawn, residents said. The police are part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

The ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it would allow armed gang members not involved in the killing of Palestinians to turn themselves in as early as Monday, “repent and be pardoned.” As for the others, it was noted that certain gangs were taking advantage of the situation to carry out extrajudicial activities.

The pause in fighting allowed first responders to search previously inaccessible areas for bodies buried under rubble. Health officials said 233 bodies had been found and taken to hospitals since Friday, when the truce took effect.

Yasser el-Bureis, who was at the morgue at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said Sunday that he and his relatives finally recovered the bodies of his two cousins ​​killed months earlier while trying to flee their home.

“For five months we failed to recover the bodies,” he said.

Hospitals are running out of supplies for the living and the dead, including body bags.

The war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

In the ensuing Israeli offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters but says about half of the dead were women and children.

The war has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its 2 million residents. It also sparked other conflicts in the region, sparked global protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

Although Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza have welcomed the initial cessation of fighting and plans to release hostages and prisoners, the long-term fate of the ceasefire remains unclear. Key questions regarding the governance of Gaza and the fate of Hamas after the war remain to be resolved.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on