A delicate moment after two years of warpublished at 01:05 BST
A ceasefire deal struck between Israel and Hamas will reach a critical moment today.
Hamas is due to release the 48 hostages remaining in Gaza by noon local time (10:00 BST). Of those, 20 are believed to be alive, and are expected to swiftly be taken for medical care before being reunited with their loved ones. The bodies of 28 others are due to be returned.
It comes as US President Donald Trump is making a trip to Israel in the wake of the deal brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar.
Trump will address Israel’s parliament before travelling to the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh to host a summit on peace in the Middle East, joined by at least 20 other world leaders.
Trump will be greeted by “masses of Israelis with gratitude and friendship”, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said Sunday, with many Israelis crediting the American president for the ceasefire deal.
In exchange for the return of the hostages, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners, including those serving life sentences. That’s in addition to releasing more than 1,700 detainees held without charge over the course of the war – including nearly two dozen children.
Elsewhere, trucks carrying aid are crossing the border into Gaza as Palestinians, forcibly displaced to the south by Israel’s offensive, continue to return to the territory’s north. They are being met with devastation there, finding huge swathes of Gaza City reduced to rubble.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest on this deal and the peace summit.
