Israeli families await hostage release ahead of Gaza peace plan talks in Egypt

Trump insisted to reporters that the war in Gaza is over, despite Netanyahu's suggesting the opposite in remarks earlier today.

“The war is over. The war is over. The war is over, OK? You understand that?” Trump said when he was asked about Netanyahu's comments on Air Force One.

Netanyahu said in televised remarks that “the campaign is not over.”

"There are still very big security challenges ahead of us. Some of our enemies are trying to recover in order to attack us again," he said.

People sit in front of a clock counting the days the hostages have been in captivity at Hostages Square early Monday in Tel Aviv.

Dubbed the “Palestinian Nelson Mandela” by his supporters, Marwan Barghouti is not among the prisoners Israel is set to release in exchange for hostages.

Barghouti has spent more than two decades behind bars, and many people hope he could one day emulate Mandela, the late South African leader, and become a unifying figure for Palestinians. Barghouti, 65, consistently polls higher than any other leader among Palestinians as the person they would pick to be a consensus candidate.

His absence from the list of prisoners to be released remains a sticking point in negotiations.

“Marwan still supports peace with Israel and supports a two-state solution,” said Gershon Baskin, an Israeli-American who has acted as a mediator with Hamas for decades. “The question is, where’s Marwan today?”

Israeli police lead Marwan Barghouti away in 2003 after he appeared before a Tel Aviv court.  Tal Cohen / AFP via Getty Images file

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he thinks the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will hold, saying people have grown "tired" of the war.

He said that he has received "verbal guarantees" about implementing aspects of the broader peace plan and that he expects them to be honored because "I don't think they're going to want to disappoint me."

"I have a lot of verbal guarantees, guarantees that aren’t down in writing, but they were given to me, and I believe they’re going to be held very strongly. That’s why I think it’s going to be success," Trump said.

Israel celebrates ceasefire deal ahead of Trump visit

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The bodies of 43 people have arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Health Ministry said. 

The majority of the victims were recovered, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said. Dozens of bodies have been found in areas previously unreachable in the days since the Israeli military has pulled back to a "yellow line" within Gaza.

One was killed by Israeli drone fire when he returned to check on his home in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah, a red zone, the spokesperson said.

Another was killed by bullets, and three others succumbed to to previous injuries, the ministry said. 

Palestinian civil defense teams officials collect the skeletal remains of Palestinians in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza today. Jameel Mohammed Albaz / Anadolu via Getty Images

Israel must "not be allowed" to back out of a peace agreement in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday, accusing the country of doing so "many times before."

"First and foremost, it must be ensured that Israel stands behind the signature it has given," Erdoğan said on X. "Secondly, Gaza must be swiftly rebuilt."

He added that Israel had "rendered 85% of Gaza uninhabitable" and that steps must be taken before winter to improve conditions in the enclave.

"Aid deliveries to Gaza have, thank God, accelerated," he said. "Our humanitarian aid trucks have also started reaching Gaza. These are hopeful developments."

Trump said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza in the future.

“I’d like to do it. I’d like to put my feet on it, at least. But I think it’s going to be a great miracle over the coming decades,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “If you go too fast, that’s not going to be good. You have to go at the right speed. Can’t go too fast.”

NBC News captured video of crowds scrambling for humanitarian that has started trickling in to Khan Younis. Dozens of aid trucks have started entering Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement.

The Egyptian Red Crescent said today that it "raised its readiness level to maximum within its logistics centers in Arish to dispatch the largest possible number of trucks today, totaling 400 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza."

Palestinians crowd onto aid trucks moving through Gaza

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Lishay Miran-Lavi, the wife of one of the roughly 20 hostages set to be released and returned to Israel tomorrow, shared a drawing on X that her daughters made for their father.

"Yesterday I told the girls that mommy’s meetings in America went very well, and that daddy Omri might come home soon," she wrote about her husband, Omri Miran, who was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nahal-Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was 46 years old. He's now 48, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

"They immediately got to work on this drawing for him. They’ve been making paintings for him for two years, but this is one is my favorite," she wrote.

The drawing says "father" in green Hebrew letters, with a heart.

She also shared an image on X of their two daughters, standing with suitcases, as they prepare for their father's return.

Special Report: Trump departs for high-stakes Middle East trip

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Trump has just taken off from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, en route to Israel. The flight is expected to take about 10½ hours.

Traveling with him are key administration and White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and State Department chief of protocol Monica Crowley, as well as White House aides Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt and Will Scharf.

Before he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Trump told reporters that people affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict are celebrating the ceasefire deal.

“There are 500,000 people yesterday and today in Israel, and also the Muslim and Arab countries are all cheering. Everybody’s cheering at one time — that’s never happened before," Trump said.

He continued: "Usually, if you have one cheering, the other isn’t, the other is the opposite. This is the first time everybody is amazed and they’re thrilled, and it’s an honor to be involved, and we’re going to have an amazing time, and it’s going to be something that’s never, never happened before."

Trump to meet with families of hostages in Jerusalem

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Images of the U.S. and Israeli flags are projected onto the walls of Jerusalem's Old City tonight.

Such massive projections are not typically displayed on the walls, but residents say they have appeared in recent days to celebrate the ceasefire.

A giant American flag was also draped over Jerusalem's city hall nearby.

U.S. and Israeli flags projected onto the walls of the Old City tonight. Tara Prindiville / NBC News

The Bibas family's ordeal has come to symbolize the anguish of Israelis waiting for word about loved ones held in Gaza.

Shiri Bibas was 32 when Hamas took her and her young sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, just 9 months old, during the Oct 7. attacks.

Her husband, Yarden Bibas, 35, was also abducted but returned alive on Feb. 1 as part of an earlier hostage release. He later learned that his wife and children had been killed in Gaza.

As Israel prepares to receive returning hostages once more, Yarden's uncle said the mood has changed.

"Now, I'm very happy, very happy" Yair Keshet told NBC News from Hostages Square yesterday. "Every feeling is correct."

Keshet said that while his nephew had begun to build his life again, some of his friends remain in Gaza.

"I hope that when all of them are here, it will bring him kind of a power," he said. "I want everybody to be here."

The Israel Defense Forces has released what is says is a handwritten letter from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that appears to be a directive including instructions for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The IDF's press desk said Sinwar wrote the letter, which troops discovered in a bunker in the Gaza Strip, in August 2022, more than a year before the attack, which killed more than 1,200 people. The New York Times first reported the letter.

Sinwar, who was killed in an operation last October, allegedly outlined how the attack's early stages would be designed to catch Israel off guard, with Hamas conducting "intensive movements weeks before any operation, in a manner the enemy calculates as routine."

“This will serve as a cover story for the major movement [the raid]" on Israel, he allegedly wrote.

In less than 24 hours, Trump is set to meet with world leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a resort city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

Preparations are underway for his arrival, though very little is known about the purpose of the meeting. A signing ceremony has been suggested, but what exactly the leaders would sign remains unclear.

The Trump administration’s 20-point plan proposes that Hamas be disarmed and excluded from Gaza's political process. It proposes a temporary transitional governance, leaving open the question of who will ultimately govern Gaza in the long term.

Those are complex issues, and much will depend on Trump, who brokered the deal and will need to stay engaged. Middle Eastern and European leaders gathering with him tomorrow will see both a rare political opening and the risk of letting it slip away.

Reuters obtained video showing Hamas-run police standing guard on a street in Gaza City yesterday, with one of its members saying that “interior (ministry) forces” were deploying “across the Gaza Strip.”

“The biggest deployment is in the intersections and markets, for the security of citizens, so that the grieving people feel that there is law,” the officer said in the video.

Another officer said “the people welcomed this deployment very much and came to greet us and tell us to stand by them.”

Hamas dismissed yesterday's BBC report that claimed the militant group had deployed 7,000 security forces to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, calling the report "false."

NBC News was unable to independently verify the BBC’s report.

Israeli troops pulled back from Gaza City following the announcement of a ceasefire on Friday. The agreement keeps the Israeli military out of urban areas, but it maintains control of roughly half the enclave.

Footage shows Hamas-run police guarding Gaza City streets

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Children in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis collect bullet casings from the rubble and fashion them into belts, which they sell to militants.

Children collect bullet shells from the rubble in Khan Younis to make belts, which they sell to militants, on Sunday. Courtesy of Daniele Hamamdijan / NBC News

Israel’s biggest challenge after the hostages return will be “the destruction of all Hamas” tunnels under Gaza, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“This is the main meaning of implementing the agreed upon principle of disarming Gaza and disarming Hamas,” he posted on X Sunday. 

Katz added that the operation would carried out by the IDF, with “the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States."

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh today, with Blair set to play a role in the reconstruction of Gaza as Trump’s plan for peace moves forward.

Blair will join Trump as co-chair of a “Board of Peace” under the president's 20-point plan for peace — an international body that would oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

“Today I met with Mr. Tony Blair to discuss the day after the war and efforts aimed at making President Trump’s plan which aims at stopping the war and establishing lasting peace in the region a success,” al-Sheikh said on X.

The Palestinian Authority has “confirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr. Blair and the partners to consolidate the ceasefire, the entry of aid, the release of hostages and prisoners, and then start with the recovery and reconstruction,” he added.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference with President Donald Trump, on Sept. 29. Will Oliver / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Netanyahu said “sons will return to their borders" tomorrow when remaining hostages in Gaza are set to return to Israel after years in captivity.

Calling the moment a "historic event" in a televised address today, he acknowledged the bittersweet nature of the exchange, noting the release of Palestinian prisoners alongside the hostages.

"The campaign is not over," he continued, saying that "some of our enemies are trying to recover in order to attack us again," without providing details.

"As they say here — ‘We’re on it,’" Netanyahu said.

He thanked the Israeli military and the families who lost loved ones, saying that the country was "embarking on a new path, one of healing, and hopefully the healing of hearts."

In an interview on Fox News, Vice President JD Vance spoke about the possibility of retrieving the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages from Gaza.

“I think that we will eventually get most of the bodies, but we won’t get all of them," the vice president said.

He also spoke about redeveloping Gaza, saying that most of the money will be coming from Gulf Arab countries and Israel.

"Most of the money is going to come from our Gulf Arab friends, and I’m sure some will come from the Israelis. This is actually not going to require many resources from the United States of America. What it will require is our constant supervision in our diplomatic engagement. That’s what we’re bringing to the table," Vance said.

The release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, and of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, is a carefully orchestrated affair, but not a new one for either Israel or Hamas, which have conducted several previous rounds of exchanges.

The last 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza, along with the bodies of 28 hostages who died there, are set to be released early tomorrow in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,722 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack.

Hamas is expected to hand over all of the surviving hostages at once to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will transport them within Gaza to an area that remains under Israeli control.

Israel has accused Hamas of using past hostage handovers for propaganda, exchanging them in front of crowds and banners accusing Israel of war crimes. Shosh Bedrosian, Netanyahu's spokesperson, said at a press briefing the exchange should take place "without any sick displays by Hamas."

Medical staff in Gaza were overwhelmed by the "carnage," a Canadian doctor said, describing scenes of chaos and desperation before the ceasefire took effect. While the truce has drastically reduced the number of wounded arriving at hospitals, she said, resources remain basic and lacking.

A delegation from the World Health Organization arrive al-Ahli Baptist Hospital to examine patients and assess preparations for evacuations, in Gaza City, on Wednesday.  Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea / Anadolu via Getty Images

Before the ceasefire, "we had mass casualties coming in with horrific injuries," Dr. Mel Brecknell told NBC News. "We had patients on the floor in the corridors being dragged in, sliding on blood, blown off limbs — it was horrific."

"There was nothing we could do," Brecknell added, but since the ceasefire began, "the mass casualties certainly started to dry up completely."

Now, Brecknell said, most of the patients she sees are suffering from untreated chronic illness: "Heart conditions, diabetes, kidney problems, cancer and then the chest diseases that have not been treated for years."

In some cases, "they come to us and we can't do anything," she said. "We have such basic resources."

Netanyahu's spokeswoman responded to the strong reaction from the crowd at a rally last night in Tel Aviv, where people jeered and booed the prime minister as they celebrated the ceasefire and imminent hostage release.

Crowd cheers for Trump and boos Netanyahu in Hostages Square

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Netanyahu has faced repeated criticism from some hostage families, who have accused him of prolonging the war in Gaza and failing to prioritize a ceasefire. Many signs last night credited Trump with the breakthrough in the peace process.

Spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told a press briefing that Netanyahu "has gotten us to this point in cooperation and coordination with President Trump," adding: "Prime Minister Netanyahu took risks, and those risks led us to this point."

"The first phase of this plan is releasing all of our hostages — and that was a dedication and a promise he made to those families, and here I am standing today telling you that the prime minister is following through, following through on that promise," Bedrosian said.

Aid agencies are preparing to scale up their efforts in Gaza, but they are waiting for clarity on when more aid can enter the enclave.

"We’re still just waiting to see this humanitarian protocol, as they call it, come through, and the meaningful progress so that that we really do see the opening of all of these border crossings," said Jason Knapp, Gaza's representative for Catholic Relief Services, which has operated in Gaza for decades.

Once that happens, the aid group can "really enable the response to resume at scale," he told NBC News. The need for aid is especially urgent with winter approaching, he added.

Knapp said that certain details would need to be "communicated by the negotiations to the various authorities across the pipeline making the decisions to unblock, and that aid is facilitated smoothly."

"So we won’t see details about that, not necessarily today, or even tomorrow," he said.

Vice President JD Vance joined NBC News' "Meet the Press" as President Donald Trump travels to the Middle East to sign a deal aimed at ending the Gaza war, while tensions mount in Washington as the government shutdown drags on with no end in sight.

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Palestinians continued to move across the Gaza Strip this morning, joining a stream of travelers who have been seeking to return home after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Cars, trucks and horse carts laden with people and belongings could be seen passing through Nuseirat refugee camp as residents make their way back to Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza.

The stream of travelers heading north began the moment the ceasefire came into effect on Friday, as Palestinians hope to reunite with their loved ones or discover what is left of their homes.

Displaced Palestinians ride a horse cart with their belongings as they pass through the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Eyad Baba / AFP - Getty Images

A young boy sits on a car as displaced Palestinians drive through the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Eyad Baba / AFP - Getty Images

Displaced Palestinians drive through the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip as they return to Gaza City with their belongings on Sunday. Eyad Baba / AFP - Getty Images

Israel is "hours away" from the release of all its hostages still being held inside the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a briefing to the world's news media.

Spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said Israel is expecting Hamas to hand over all 20 surviving hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross "early Monday morning" under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

They will be taken out of Gaza and reunited with their families before being taken to one of three hospitals preparing to treat them. She said Israel was also ready to receive the dead bodies of the 28 deceased hostages.

Noting media reports that the hostage exchange could happen as soon as this evening, she said: "We are expecting them tomorrow, but if there is an early release, we will be there to receive them."

"Tomorrow will be a day of reunification and excitement for some families who have waited two years to embrace their loved ones, while other families will grieve the return of their loved ones," Bedrosian said.

Palestinian prisoners will be released under the plan for the exchange once there is confirmation that all hostages have crossed into Israel, she added.

Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office of the White House on Aug. 25. Evan Vucci / AP file

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza could be released at “any moment now,” ahead of a Monday deadline, as part of the first phase of a peace plan between Israel and Hamas.

“It really should be any moment now,” the vice president told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” when asked about the timing for the hostages’ release.

“The president of the United States is planning to travel to the Middle East to greet the hostages Monday morning, Middle Eastern time,” Vance added. “Which should be late, you know, Sunday night, or very early Monday morning here in the United States.”

Read the full article here.

President Donald Trump is expected to depart later today on a whirlwind trip to the Middle East, with events in Israel and Egypt to mark the first phase of his peace plan for Gaza.

Israel's police force said that enhanced security is in place for Trump's arrival, expected tomorrow morning, with "thousands of police and Border Police officers" deployed along key routes.

A red carpet has been rolled out at Ben Gurion Airport, where Trump will be welcomed by the country's President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Israeli Government Press Office.

During his brief visit, Trump is expected to address Israel's parliament, the Knesset, where he will also meet with the families of hostages. The visit comes on the same day as a deadline for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

After departing Israel, he will travel to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, where he will chair a summit of world leaders with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, dedicated to ensuring a lasting peace in the region.

The president is then expected to return to Washington, D.C.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s name drew boos from a crowd at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv during a speech by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, while President Donald Trump’s name drew applause and chants of "Thank you, Trump."

Witkoff seemed surprised by the reaction and after a pause told the crowd that Netanyahu had played a key role in securing the hostages' release.

"I was in the trenches with the prime minister, believe me, he was a very important part here," he said.

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People wave their phone lights in support of hostages still held by Hamas during a solidarity protest on Saturday in Tel Aviv. Chris McGrath / Getty Images

Preparations are in place for the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.

After the ceasefire began on Friday, a 72-hour deadline is in effect for Hamas to release all of the hostages in its captivity, which expires at noon local time on Monday (5 a.m. ET).

Israel has said it is preparing for the release of living hostages and the return of the remains of dead hostages tomorrow morning, ahead of the deadline. Forty-eight hostages are yet to be returned, of whom Israel believes 20 are currently still alive. Under the peace agreement, an international task force will be formed to search for the remains of any hostages that could not be returned by the deadline, Israel says.

On Friday, Israel published an initial list of 250 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released in the exchange, though negotiations were ongoing over those to be freed.

Fifteen of the prisoners will be freed to East Jerusalem, 100 in the West Bank, and the remainder will be released into Gaza or deported elsewhere, Israel said.

Under the peace plan, Israel has also committed to releasing 1,722 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated past exchanges, said in a statement that its teams in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank will support the implementation of the ceasefire plan "by helping to return hostages and detainees to their families."

Preparations are complete for the "immediate release" of hostages held in Gaza, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

"Israel is prepared and ready to immediately receive all of our hostages," Netanyahu said in a statement released by the prime minister's office, after speaking with Israeli hostage envoy Gal Hirsch.

Israeli forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross and hospitals have been readying for the exchange since the ceasefire was agreed on Friday, with a deadline of noon local time (5 a.m. ET) tomorrow for Hamas to release all remaining hostages, in return for Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The ceasefire has not brought an end to dire conditions in Gaza's few surviving hospitals, the Palestinian Health Ministry has warned.

Dr. Muneer Alboursh, the director-general of the Hamas-run ministry, said in a social media post that sorely needed medical supplies and equipment had not yet arrived, warning of "major challenges in the health sector, with the collapse of infrastructure and the destruction of operating rooms and intensive care units."

He said work is underway to restore the ability to treat patients "after losing hospitals, medicine and doctors" during the conflict, and to "reorganize and consolidate services in specific locations."

Alboursh said that work is underway to assess patients for medical evacuation outside Gaza ahead of the planned reopening of border crossings, as well as to receive the prisoners and detainees expected to be released under an exchange with Israel.

World leaders will assemble in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort city tomorrow afternoon for a summit marking the first phase of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas.

President Donald Trump, who will attend after visiting Israel, will chair the summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, a key voice in the peace process as a neighbor to both Israel and Gaza.

Egypt said that more than 20 countries will be represented at the summit, with leaders including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron expected to attend.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will also join the summit, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported on Sunday, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II will also attend.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and European Council President Antonio Costa will also join the summit.

Former hostage Tal Shoam, who spent 505 days in captivity before his release in February under the last ceasefire agreement, said he was full of “happiness and joy” at the news that all living hostages will be returned from Gaza.

"I'm just waiting to hug them and tell them that I love them," he told NBC News from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv last night, adding that the hostages and Israel as a nation need time to recover "from the horror that we went through."

"The process of recovery takes time," he said. "But I hold so much gratitude and thankfulness to the fact that I can do it with my family."

"Soon everyone will come back, and we will be able to recover all of us together," he added.

He added that Hamas needs to disarm and cede control of Gaza, a key sticking point of the next phase of peace negotiations, in order to allow both Israel and Palestinians to "look to the future in a peaceful way, not digging underground tunnels for the next war."

Three employees of Qatar's Amiri Diwan, its top government body, were killed in a car crash near Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Qatar’s embassy in Egypt said in a post on X on Sunday.

The embassy said two others were wounded and were receiving necessary medical treatment at the city’s hospital.

It said the injured and the bodies of the deceased would be repatriated later on Sunday to Doha.

Read the full story here.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are parked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting to get access to the Gaza Strip, on Sunday.  AFP - Getty Images

The Egyptian Red Crescent said today it was preparing 400 trucks to take 9,000 tons of urgent aid to Gaza today, what it called the largest possible convoy of aid into the enclave.

The group said on Facebook it began working on the shipment "within the first minute" of the first-phase ceasefire agreement on Friday. News agency images showed trucks lined up on the Egyptian side of the border Sunday morning.

The Zad Al-Izza convoy is taking 6,000 tons of food and flour, 2,000 tons of fuels and nearly 1,000 tons of medical supplies and other essential items including portable toilets, tents and blankets.

"As many Palestinian families head back to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Red Crescent continues its mission of providing shelter, clothing, food, and other essential supplies through its convoys, embodying Egypt’s unwavering support for our Palestinian brothers," the statement said.

The group added that since July 27 and Friday it has delivered 48 aid convoys into Gaza.

The U.S. flag flies in Peace Square at Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh this morning.

Municipal workers hang signs near the airport as the resort city prepares to host President Donald Trump in a U.S.-brokered international Gaza peace summit.Trump confirmed that he would meet "a lot of leaders" in Egypt tomorrow to discuss the future of devastated Gaza, adding that he was confident the ceasefire would lead to wider peace in the Middle East. 

Israel has stepped up preparations for the return of both living and dead hostages from Gaza tomorrow morning, according to a message sent by Israeli hostage envoy Gal Hirsch's office to the families of hostages, seen by NBC News.

Hospitals are prepared to receive living hostages, while bodies released to Israel will be transferred for a forensic identification process.

The recovery operation will be run "in close coordination with the Red Cross," which has been tasked with retrieving hostages during previous exchanges, as well as with international mediators, Hirsch's message says.

A 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release all of the hostages in its captivity expires at noon local time on Monday (5 a.m. ET).

Hirsch's office said that an international task force will work to locate the remains of any deceased hostages that are not returned by the deadline, adding that Israel will demand Hamas cooperate, "with the assistance of the international force, to meet the task and to return all of the fallen hostages to Israeli soil."

People hold up placards and flags in Hostages Square on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel. Chris McGrath / Getty Images

The imminent return of the final Israeli hostages from Gaza brings mixed emotions for U.S. resident Rotem Cooper, whose father Amiram Cooper died in Hamas captivity in 2023, after being taken hostage at the age of 84 in the Oct. 7 attacks.

After two years of campaigning for their release, “all of a sudden it’s here, and it’s hard to comprehend,” he told NBC News from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv last night.

He said that Israel had missed the opportunity to secure the return of hostages earlier on, adding: "The worst-case scenario for me unfortunately came true. I wasn’t able to get my father out of there while he was still alive."

Cooper said that the agreement happened "in spite of the Israeli prime minister, and the credit is much more to the U.S. administration, both of them, and especially to President Trump."

Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff meet with families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Saturday. Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters

The families of Israeli hostages expected to be released tomorrow under the terms of the agreement between Israel and Hamas met yesterday evening with U.S. officials, including Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Also present was Jared Kushner, the former White House adviser and the president's son-in-law, who has played a role in negotiations on the peace plan, as well as Ivanka Trump.

The families "thanked them for their instrumental role in securing the historic deal to bring all their loved ones home," a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.

Witkoff, Kushner and Ivanka Trump later addressed a rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square.

Kushner said he "couldn’t be prouder to be a friend of Israel" and called for lasting peace in the Middle East. "God bless you all for standing in solidarity together through this dark chapter," Ivanka Trump told the crowd.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid sit parked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting to get access to the southern Gaza Strip early this morning. Members of the Red Crescent gather near a truck loaded with humanitarian aid, which appears to cross the border at Rafah this morning.

The view in Gaza shows how destructive two years of near-constant Israeli strikes have been. There's no sewer system left in Gaza, or running water or power — and winter is coming.

In Tel Aviv, Israelis gathered as they have for two years every Saturday in Hostages Square — they hope this will be the last time. Under the peace agreement, Hamas must release all the hostages by noon, local time on Monday.

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