Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City on Saturday, as Hamas said it would start releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

Trump’s Middle East envoy promised Israeli hostage families their loved ones would be returned to them, and the region’s top US general visited Gaza one day after the guns fell silent.

“Your courage has moved the world,” Steve Witkoff told the families and huge crowd in Tel Aviv. “To the hostages themselves: you are coming home,” he declared, as Israelis chanted “Thank you Trump”.

Shortly afterwards, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said “the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed”.

Israel and Hamas are to release hostages and prisoner

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