Israel confirmed Hamas has released several hostages this morning as Donald Trump boasts that the Gaza peace deal “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in”. The US president is currently on his way to Israel.
Red Cross vehicles are now moving into position in Gaza to collect the detainees, with their release imminent.
Speaking ahead of what will be a deeply emotional day, Mr Trump said: “The war is over, you understand that, I think (the Middle East) is going to normalise.”
The deadline for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages – 48 in total – into the care of the Red Cross is imminent.
Later, Mr Trump will travel to take centre stage at an international summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, before an expected tour of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Mr Trump and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi will host the talks alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also attend, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will also be there. Iran will not be represented, despite being invited.
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