Palestinians journey back home as aid convoys start to enter Gaza

A ceasefire in the war in Gaza was holding for the third day on Sunday as aid agencies worked to rush in more desperately needed aid to the besieged territory under the truce deal.

Preparations were also underway for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

US President Donald Trump, who pushed to clinch the ceasefire deal, is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday morning. He will meet with families of hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, according to a schedule released by the White House.

Trump will then continue on to Egypt, where the office of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi has said he will co-chair a "peace summit” on Monday with attendance by regional and international leaders.

A police car drives past as it patrols next to an image of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, which reads, 'Together to complete the construction process,' ahead of an international summit on Gaza, at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm Al Sheikh. Reuters

Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry has deployed thousands of police in areas the Israeli military withdrew from after the ceasefire took effect.

Armed policemen were seen on Gaza City streets and in southern Gaza on Saturday, providing a sense of security to the local population. The police also provided security for aid trucks driving through areas no controlled by the Israeli military, according to residents.

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Germany wants to provide rapid support for the reconstruction of Gaza in the event of a lasting peace agreement, Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan said.

Palestinians rally around aid trucks which entered from the Karem Abu Salem crossing, in Khan Younis on Sunday. AFP

"Germany is ready to assist with the reconstruction,” Alabali Radovan told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Sunday.

She said Germany wants to initially help with mobile temporary housing and was in favour of bringing in the private sector for the reconstruction.

"It won’t work without private capital. The reconstruction of Gaza, Syria, or Ukraine requires sums of money that we could never raise from public budgets alone,” she said.

Members of the Red Crescent stand near a truck loaded with humanitarian aid on the Rafah crossing, waiting to get access to the Gaza Strip. AFP

The largest humanitarian actor in Gaza, UNRWA, which has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of aid waiting outside in Egypt and Jordan, said it had no clarity on its role in the new scaling up of relief provided to Gaza.

Spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is "standing ready” to contribute and has enough food supplies in its warehouses for the entire population of the Gaza Strip for three months.
As Trump prepares to travel to the Middle East, his vice president said he believes "we are on the cusp of peace in Gaza for the first time - not just in a couple of years, but really in a very long time.”

A billboard shows images of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Tel Aviv. Reuters

Trump has been able to "unite the Israelis with the Gulf Arab states for a common objective, and that is to bring the hostages home, to stop the war and to build the kind of long time settlement that we really do believe can lead to a lasting peace,” JD Vance told NBC’s "Meet the Press” on Sunday.

He said about 200 troops from US Central Command are already in the region to monitor the terms of the ceasefire and help ensure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"It's not going to be necessary for American troops to be in Gaza,” Vance said.

AID TRUCKS CROSSING THE EGYPT SIDE

Associated Press footage showed dozens of trucks crossing the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian Red Crescent said they carried medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and fuel.

The trucks will head to the inspection area in the Kerem Shalom crossing for screening by Israeli troops.

Abeer Etifa, a spokeswoman for the World Food Programme, said workers were clearing roads inside Gaza Sunday to facilitate delivery.

The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said that the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip is expected to increase Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.

Egypt said it is sending 400 aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday. The trucks will have to be inspected by Israeli forces before being allowed in.

A message sent Saturday from Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing and obtained by the AP, told hostage families to prepare for the release of their loved ones starting Monday morning. One of the families of the hostages confirmed the note’s authenticity.

Hirsch said preparations in hospitals and in Rei’im camp were complete to receive the live hostages, while the dead will be transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.

Israeli officials believe about 20 of the hostages out of 48 held by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza are still alive. All of the living hostages are expected to be released on Monday.

The timing has not yet been announced for the release of some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel who are to be freed under the deal. They include 250 people serving life sentences in addition to 1,700 people seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge.

Health authorities in Gaza are preparing for the return of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners - many of whom are expected to require "urgent treatment” - and dead bodies taken by Israel’s military from the strip, Dr Mounir Al Boursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in the enclave, said in a statement.

He said he hopes that the bodies of medical personnel who died in Israeli detention centers will be among those handed over and called for the release of doctors Hossam Abu Safiya and Marwan al-Hams, who were detained from Gaza during the war.

Armed police were seen in Gaza City and southern Gaza patrolling the streets and securing aid trucks driving through areas from which the Israeli military had withdrawn, according to residents. The police force is part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Egypt to take part in the signing ceremony on the truce agreement for Gaza, according to his spokesperson.

"Germany will be committed to implementing the peace plan, initially focusing on maintaining a stable ceasefire and providing humanitarian aid,” Stefan Cornelius said in a written statement Sunday, adding that the "chancellor’s trip tomorrow underscores this commitment.”

LEADERS TO ATTEND GAZA DEAL MEETING

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis will also be attending the summit in Egypt, as will Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, officials said on Sunday.

European Council President António Costa will take part in the ceremony behalf of the 27-nation bloc.

Associated Press