Israel expects hostages to be freed by Hamas "in a few hours" as ceasefire holds

Dozens, if not hundreds, of Israelis had gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square ahead of the expected return of the remaining hostages Monday morning.

Waving Israeli flags and singing, the crowd had gathered before dawn and was continuing to grow throughout the morning. As the sun was rising, many sang together and waved Israeli flags.

The release of the hostages still being held in Gaza is expected to begin around 8 a.m. local time, 1 a.m. ET, according to a source familiar with the matter. A second round of hostages is then set to be released around 10 a.m. local time, 3 a.m. ET, the source said. 

The two sets of hostages are being released from different locations within Gaza, the source said.

Israel's Sheba Medical Center, which is located in Ramat Gan, outside of Tel Aviv, and is expected to receive hostages after they are released, noted that they may not arrive there until mid- to late morning at the earliest.

— Michal Ben-Gal, Jordan Freiman

President Trump on Sunday decisively claimed that the war in Gaza is over.

"The war is over,"  he told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Tel Aviv. "The war is over, okay? Do you understand that?"

When asked if he thinks the ceasefire will hold, he said, "I think so. I think it's going to hold." 

"I think people are, a lot of reasons why it's going to hold, but I think people are tired of it," Mr. Trump said.

Trump said "over the years," Gaza will look "very good," but provided no other details.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he has arrived in Egypt to meet with international leaders.

"The UK stands ready to support rebuilding Gaza and we will work with partners to secure a stable future for the region," Starmer said on social media.

In September, the U.K. prime minister joined Canada, Australia and dozens of other nations to formally recognize a Palestinian state to "keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution."

While much of the Middle East is hopeful about the ceasefire, Iran will be one of the key stakeholders that won't be at the peace summit in Egypt on Monday.

"Iran is grateful for President El-Sisi's invitation to attend the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit," Iran Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Sunday in a statement. "While favoring diplomatic engagement, neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian People and continue to threaten and sanction us."

In June, Israel launched attacks on Iran, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, scientists and military commanders, leading Iran to launch retaliatory strikes on Israel. The U.S. also launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in late June. The 12-day conflict left 28 people dead in Israel and hundreds in Iran before a ceasefire was brokered by the Trump administration.

While Iran won't be at the table in Sharm El-Sheikh, Abbas Araghchi said, "Iran welcomes any initiative that ends Israel's Genocide in Gaza and ensures the expulsion of occupation forces."

"Palestinians are fully entitled to secure their fundamental right of self-determination, and all States remain obliged, more than ever, to assist them in their lawful & legitimate cause," Abbas Araghchi said.

President Trump boarded Air Force One on Sunday afternoon to head to the Middle East.

In a brief remark to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the president said, "So this is going to be a very special time." 

"In Israel and also the Muslim and Arab countries are all cheering," Mr. Trump said. He did not take any questions.

He's set to arrive in Tel Aviv early Monday along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe and other administration officials.

Mr. Trump is expected to meet with families of Israeli hostages before delivering a speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. He then will travel to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the international peace summit.

— Kathryn Watson, Kiki Intarasuwan

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. and Israeli-backed aid group in Gaza that has been surrounded by controversy, will shut down under the terms of the ceasefire deal, officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.

As part of the deal outlined by President Trump, the immediate provision of "full aid" is allowed into Gaza, and a GHF spokesperson told The AP on Sunday that there will be "temporary closures" of some sites over the next few days during the transfer of the hostages to Israel.

"There is no change to our long-term plan," the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity in accordance with the organization's rules.

Since GHF began operating in May, there had been almost daily reports of civilians being killed trying to access its four "distribution hubs." The aid group has acknowledged incidents of violence outside the sites but denied that anyone was killed inside any of its hubs.

—By: CBS/AP

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will attend the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt,  on Monday, a source in the president's office confirmed to CBS News.

The United Nations humanitarian chief told The Associated Press on Sunday that the peace summit co-chaired by the U.S. and Egypt at a Red Sea resort on Monday shows the international community's commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

"There are so many things that could go wrong in the coming days and weeks," Tom Fletcher told the AP in Cairo. "But all of us working on this want to get the hostages home and want to get masses and masses of aid ... into Gaza to save as many lives as possible."

In a virtual address to the United Nations last month, Abbas called for an end to the war and said Hamas would have no role in governance in a post-conflict Gaza.

—By: Claire Day, Associated Press

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Sunday that Egypt is "confident that the first phase of the Trump peace plan will be implemented" and will be honored by all parties involved. 

"We are very hopeful that the first phase will be completed, in all honesty, from the two parties, and we are in full contact with the Palestinians, with the Hamas," Abdelatty told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

Abdelatty confirmed that Egypt will be sending troops to Gaza "within specific parameters." He also said that Egypt supports the deployment of international troops into Gaza for security and stabilization.

"We are confident, though we have to draw lessons from the past, that without solving the Palestinian cause, which is the core of the conflict in the region, without respecting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to have their own statehood, you know, there is no peace and stability in the region," Abdelatty said. 

Abdelatty indicated that President Trump's peace plan referred to Palestinian statehood, although the final version of the plan is unclear on Palestinian statehood. 

Watch Margaret Brennan's full interview with Abdelatty here. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked people to put their differences aside on the eve of the release of the hostages still held in Gaza.

"Citizens of Israel, this is a moving evening, an evening of tears, an evening of joy because tomorrow our sons will return to their borders," he said in a statement released on Sunday. "This is a historic event that there were those who did not believe that it would happen, but our fighters believed, many in the nation believed, and I believed."

He praised Israel's "tremendous victories" and the "joint forces" that, he said, allowed his country to achieve them. 

"And I want to tell you: Wherever we fought, we won. But at the same time, I must tell you, the campaign is not over," his statement continued. "There are still very big security challenges ahead of us. Some of our enemies are trying to recover in order to attack us again, and as they say (in Israel): we are up to it."

The prime minister thanked the Israeli military and "the bereaved families who lost their most precious thing."

"Tomorrow is the beginning of a new path, a path of building, a path of healing, and I hope a path of uniting hearts," he said. "Together we will continue to strengthen our country, together we will continue to win, and with God's help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel."

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration is "seeing signs that Hamas and Israel are complying with everything they need to" and the peace proposal "will go ahead."

"Knock on wood, but we feel very confident that the hostages will be released and that the president is actually traveling to the Middle East —  likely this evening — in order to meet them and greet them in person," Vance said during an appearance on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday. "It's a big day for their families, but I think more importantly, it's a big day for the entire world." 

Vance credited President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner for the proposal. 

"We are on the cusp of sustainable peace in the Middle East," Vance said. "It's a great moment." 

Vance said the 200 U.S. Central Command troops sent to the Middle East "are not troops who are going to be put in Gaza, but they're troops who are already at Central Command." 

"We see our role really as mediating some of those disputes and ensuring that the pressure stays on everybody to achieve a durable and lasting peace," Vance said. 

Earlier this year, Vance said the images of starving children in Gaza are "heartbreaking," and he said "Israel has got to do more to let that aid in." Brennan asked if he felt U.S. security has been endangered by the perception that the U.S. had allowed and even been supportive of Israel's conduct that the administration didn't seem to agree with. 

"This is one of those peace deals where Muslims and Jews and Christians all seem united that it's a really good thing for the world," Vance said. "It's a really good thing for humanity, and it happened because of President Trump's leadership. So I actually think this peace deal will make us safer." 

Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, said in a briefing Sunday that Israel is "hours away from the release of all of our hostages."

The briefing gave a few other details about what is expected over the coming hours.

"We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles without any sick displays by Hamas," Bedrosian said. "Hostages will be driven to forces inside of Israel-controlled parts of Gaza and then transferred to the Reim base in Southern Israel, where they will then reunite with their families."

She added that the living hostages would be sent to three hospitals in Israel.

On the handover of the remains of the deceased hostages, Bedrosian said that "once Red Cross hands over [the] deceased hostage remains to Israeli forces in Israeli-controlled territories inside Gaza, they will hold a short ceremony in the Gaza Strip. During that handover, the coffins will be draped with Israeli flags and traditional Jewish memorial prayers for the dead will be said."

She said the remains would then be brought to a forensic institute inside Israel for identification, after which, "in coordination with the Jewish law and of course tradition, their families will be notified in an appropriate timeframe to bury their loved ones in a timely fashion."

Some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners (250 serving life sentences and about 1700 who have been detained since Oct. 7, 2023), she said, will be released once Israel has confirmation that all hostages have crossed the border into Israel.

"And once we have that confirmation, we are expecting that the prisoners will already be on the buses. But once the confirmation comes through, they have crossed into Israeli territory, those buses will start and they will begin their journey," Bedrosian said.

Pope Leo XIV called for courage from those forging the peace plan for Gaza on Sunday, saying the agreement has "given a spark of hope in the Holy Land."

"I encourage the parties involved to courageously continue on the path towards a just and lasting peace that respects the legitimate aspirations of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples," the U.S.-born pontiff said at the end of Sunday's Angelus prayer.

International leaders are set to meet in Egypt on Monday to discuss implementing the first phase of a ceasefire, more than two years after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that triggered a counter-offensive by Israel.

"Two years of conflict have left death and destruction everywhere, especially in the hearts of those who have brutally lost their children, their parents, their friends, everything," Leo said.

He asked God to help "accomplish what now seems humanly impossible: to rediscover that the other is not an enemy, but a brother to look to, forgive, and offer the hope of reconciliation."

—By: CBS/AFP

Preparations are underway on Sunday for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

A message sent Sunday from Gal Hirsch, Israel's coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing, and obtained by the Associated Press, told hostage families to prepare for the release of their loved ones starting on Monday morning.

In the message, Hirsch said preparations in the hospitals and in the Re'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 said 48 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive. All living hostages are expected to be released on Monday.

An international task force will start working to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within the 72-hour period, said Hirsch. Officials have said the search for the bodies of the dead, some of whom may be buried under rubble, could take time.

President 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.

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

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.

—By: CBS/AP

Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning, one of its top officials said, before President Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region.

As part of the deal's first phase, Hamas will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

"According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the AFP news agency in an interview Saturday.

Mr. Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon, the Egyptian presidency announced.

The meeting will aim "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability," it said.

Several other world leaders have said they will also attend, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

There was no immediate word on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be there.  Hamas would not take part as it had "acted principally through...Qatari and Egyptian mediators" during talks, Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said. 

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff spoke at Saturday night's rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the largest crowd reported there since it became the gathering place for relatives of Israelis taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Alongside Jared Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, Witkoff told the crowd President Trump would love to be there with them, as people chanted "thank you, Trump, thank you, Witkoff."

The U.S. envoy  acknowledged that  many feared the remaining hostages would never come home, but said when "courage meets conviction, miracles can happen."  

Speaking hours before the first hostages were due to be freed, Witkoff said that Mr. Trump "showed the world that strength and peace go hand in hand. They are not opposites -- they are partners." Mr. Trump, he said, was a humanitarian "through and through." 

Speaking after Witkoff, Kushner told the crowd -- "I agree with you -- thank you, Witkoff." Kushner said he applauded the people of Israel and said, "I couldn't be prouder to be a friend of Israel, somebody who supports Israel and somebody who fights very strongly to see Israel survive, succeed and to achieve its fullest potential."

The crowd booed when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was mentioned, CBS News' team in Israel reported. 

Mr. Trump is expected to travel to Israel on Monday to mark the ceasefire deal and the return of the hostages.

A Hamas official appeared to reject a key element of President Trump's peace plan for Gaza, saying the group would not agree to disarm. 

"The proposed weapons handover is out of the question and not negotiable," the official told the AFP news agency. It was not immediately clear if this was its settled position on the issue.

Mr. Trump has said that Hamas would be expected to surrender its weapons as part of the second phase of the 20-point plan.

Hamas members who decommission their weapons would be promised amnesty under the deal and be allowed to leave Gaza.

A refusal by Hamas to comply with Israel's demand for it to fully disarm could endanger Mr. Trump's plan. Another potential sticking point is Hamas' demand for Israel to withdraw all its forces from Gaza.

However, the peace plan envisages Israel maintaining an open-ended military presence inside Gaza. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza, though the timeline for their arrival and the duration of their deployment remain unclear.

Israel's military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to the agreed-upon lines.

—By: CBS/AFP

 U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff made a brief visit to Gaza on Saturday, a senior U.S. official confirmed to CBS News. 

Witkoff accompanied the CENTCOM Commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, who is working to build a civil-military coordination center to support the stabilization force that is due to be deployed in Gaza. 

Cooper confirmed the visit to Gaza on social media Saturday, saying "America's sons and daughters are answering the call to deliver peace in the Middle East in support of the Commander-in-Chief's direction in his historic moment."

President Trump's 20-point plan calls for a stabilization force, backed by the U.S. and Arab states, that would temporarily oversee security in Gaza. The force is also tasked with training "vetted Palestinian Police forces" in collaboration with Jordan and Egypt.

—Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.

Aid groups are preparing to scale up relief efforts as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds up for a second day.

"When people get there, they're going to find rubble. They'll find that their homes and their neighborhoods have been reduced to dust," UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram told The Associated Press on Friday.

UNICEF and its partners are urging Israel to reopen more crossings to allow aid to flow into Gaza more freely. 

"A ceasefire alone is not enough," Ingram said, speaking from central Gaza. "Yes, it stops the killing and injuring of children, hopefully, but it also needs to ensure a surge of humanitarian aid that begins to address the tremendous damage that has been done over the past two years."

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid, said that more than 500 trucks entered Gaza on Friday, although many crossings remain closed. Food security experts say that parts of the strip are still in a state of famine. UNICEF has 1,300 aid trucks ready to enter, with more on the way, Ingram said.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians made their way back to their neighborhoods in northern Gaza on Saturday, waving through streets shrouded in dust and ruin.

As the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to hold, returning Palestinians hope to reclaim anything from life left from before the war.

"I heard my home was destroyed," Rami Hamda said, "but I'm hoping I might be able to salvage some of my belongings. You can't even find a tent to stay in at the moment."

For Umm Mohammad Al-Madoun, there is nothing that remains from the life before she fled the fighting.

"I didn't find my home, my neighbor's, nothing," she said. "Everything was destroyed. There are no homes, no life left … and the people who died are gone forever."

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, flattened entire neighborhoods, and displaced around 90% of Gaza's more than 2 million people. Many Gazans have been forced to move multiple times over the past two years.

—By: CBS/AP

Just before an Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect Friday, which is the first step in implementing phase one of President Trump's peace plan to end the war in Gaza, senior U.S. officials shared a timeline of the monthslong effort to put the deal together.

The path to the deal stretches back to August, when Hamas accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators. That proposal evolved into the 20-point plan that Trump administration officials presented to Arab leaders last month for feedback.

Read more here.

By Aaron Navarro and Jennifer Jacobs

Daniel Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, said Friday he is "highly confident" that the initial phase of the Israel-Hamas deal — including the hostage release — will take place.

"Phase one is already underway," he told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett. "The guns have fallen silent. And then over the next 72 hours, the most important element will happen. The hostages that they still hold will be released to Israel and to their families. A significant amount of aid will flow into Gaza, much higher levels than before. Also, some Palestinian prisoners will be released."

Shapiro agreed with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the "real hard work of phase two has barely begun," referring to the longer-term portions of Mr. Trump's 20-point peace plan. He said that rebuilding Gaza and "getting some kind of discussion going between Israelis and Palestinians about a political horizon" could be contingent on disarming Hamas and removing it from power.

"None of those things will happen if Hamas still clings to power and still poses a threat to Israel, or to continue to crush the people of Gaza," he said.

Former Bush administration Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a two-state solution "isn't likely to be feasible" right now.

During a conversation with CBS News senior correspondent Norah O'Donnell on Friday, Rice praised the Trump administration for brokering a deal to end the Israel-Hamas war, but doubted this would lead to Palestinian statehood in the near future.. She said there are things the Palestinians can do to prepare for a future state – which would include making reforms to what they teach their children.

"They've got to start to recognize that Israel is going to exist, and it's going to be a part of this Middle East," Rice said. "And that means, change the lessons that you teach your kids about the state of Israel."

She cautioned Palestinians not to "create another generation of Palestinians who believe that somehow the resistance is the way to peace and security."

Former Obama administration Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who joined the conversation, said Israel also has to take actions to secure peace, including curtailing settlement activity in the West Bank. The Israeli government, she said, "has to cease" encouraging settlers to seize more land.

Read the full story here.

—By: Joe Walsh, Cara Tabachnick

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised President Trump for his role in brokering the Israel-Hamas peace deal during a conversation with CBS News senior correspondent Norah O'Donnell on Friday. 

"I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region, for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what's often called the day after," Clinton said.. 

Clinton was joined by former Bush administration Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also applauded the Trump administration's breakthrough as the first stage of the deal took shape. The ceasefire went into effect at noon local time (5 a.m. Eastern) and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza started a 72-hour countdown for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages.

Rice said she couldn't be confident this was the end of the war "given the history of the Middle East," but she added that there are good reasons to be optimistic. 

Read the full article here.

—By: Joe Walsh, Cara Tabachnick

Hundreds of Palestinians returned to their homes on Friday in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis to find wrecked buildings and rubble following the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

"There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood, and pots," said Fatma Radwan, who was displaced from eastern Khan Younis. People were still trying to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, she added. Others were searching for belongings.

Many buildings have been entirely flattened; none have escaped damage.

"We came to a place that is unidentifiable. An unidentifiable town. Destruction is everywhere," said Hani Omran, who was also displaced from eastern Khan Younis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Trump for helping broker the ceasefire deal and said Russia stands ready to help implement it.

Putin said that if the agreement is successfully implemented, it would mark a major achievement and a "historic event."

He noted that Russia has close ties with the Palestinian authority and could help carry out the deal if asked.

"Bearing in mind the level of trust that exists between Russia and our Arab friends, and especially Palestinian friends, of course, I believe our participation could be in demand," Putin told reporters on a trip to Tajikistan.

"We will, of course, always be ready to participate. We have been involved in this for decades, and I think Russia has something to say and something to offer to address the issues that will arise, one way or another, during the implementation of the agreements reached," he said.

Putin noted that he decided to postpone a Russia-Arab summit in Moscow that had been scheduled for Oct. 15 in order "not to interfere with the process that has been initiated by President Trump."

Palestinians who left northern Gaza during the many periods of fighting there were seen trekking back to the area on Friday, carrying what they could, images showed.

Pictures showed streams of people moving north on Rashid Street, a coastal road that links the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory.  

Many people were seen moving on foot while others were traveling in cars or smaller vehicles.

Last month, Israel's military ordered the evacuation of Gaza City in the northern part of Gaza.

Images from Gaza City on Friday showed sweeping devastation.

The leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. praised the "significant developments" in the Middle East in a joint statement Friday, as the first phase of the Trump-brokered plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas got underway.

"We welcome the agreement on a ceasefire in the Middle East, the planned release of hostages, and the resumption of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza," French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "We pay tribute to President Trump's leadership on the issue, to the diplomatic efforts of the mediators, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, and to the vital support from the wider region to secure the agreement."

"It is now of utmost importance that all parties implement their obligations in full and without delay," they added in the statement. "We stand ready to support further talks on the next stages of the plan and to contribute to it." 

Celebrations continued on Friday in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square after the Israeli government agreed to the first phase of the White House peace proposal.

Families gathered to mark the beginning of Shabbat, many joining in song.

As the sun set, the square was full. Families of hostages were setting up for Shabbat dinner in a building off the square - which they are hoping will be their last before the remaining hostages are freed. They planned to share the meal in private, away from the media. 

Photos taken on Friday showed American flags flying above streets in Jerusalem alongside Israeli flags.

Other images showed a large billboard, in Tel Aviv, featuring President Trump and reading: "Thank You Mr. President."

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher outlined plans on Friday to get 172,000 metric tons "of food, medicine, tents" and other essential materials into the Gaza Strip in the coming days. 

"We aim at hundreds of truckloads every day; food to over 2m people; restoration of decimated health system; 1.4m people reached with water and sanitation; 1000s of tents distributed every week; 700,000 kids back in education," Fletcher said in a social media post.

"We need all crossings open; safe routes; removal of red tape and physical barriers; power restored to bakeries, hospitals, water stations; entry of at least 1.9m litres of fuel every week; protection of humanitarian workers; and NGO access," he said.

An Israeli security official told CBS News on Friday that 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were set to enter Gaza in the coming days, but there was no word from aid agencies about any significant increase in the flow of such materials into the war-torn enclave following a ceasefire taking effect.

UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler told Al Jazeera on Friday the U.N. agency was still "waiting for the signal" to begin distributing aid in Gaza, adding a call for all border crossings into the enclave to be opened.

Fowler said the U.N. had 6,000 aid trucks ready to enter Gaza from Egypt and Jordan.

After over two years in captivity, Nimrod Cohen is among the hostages set to be released as part of the Israel-Hamas peace deal. His father, Yehuda Cohen, said Friday that the family was eagerly anticipating his return, but added that it was "too soon to open champagne." 

"We started to count the 72 hours. We are on the third hour," Cohen told "CBS Mornings," referring to the Monday deadline Hamas is facing to release all of the remaining Israeli hostages under the terms of the agreement. "The champagne time will come." 

Cohen said he has no idea what condition his son is in. He will be in a "very protected area" after he returns, Cohen said. 

He added that the family was eager to begin rehabilitating Nimrod as soon as possible, but they have no set plans for how his return will go. 

"It's not a play, it's not a show," Cohen said. "This is reality, and we are waiting for that moment of reality." 

Two hundred U.S. troops will be deployed to Israel to help coordinate humanitarian and security assistance, and they should be in place by Sunday, a U.S. official told CBS News on Friday. 

The U.S. personnel will be deployed from "within the CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command] region," and will mostly consist of U.S. Army members who specialize in logistics, communications, transportation and security, the U.S. official said. 

It's "the type of expertise that can ensure the flow of humanitarian assistance and also monitor the security situation in Gaza," the official said. 

The CENTCOM region is the area of responsibility for the U.S. military that encompasses the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia.

The official stressed that no U.S. military personnel would be deployed inside the Gaza Strip.

By Charlie D'Agata and Emmet Lyons 

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the ceasefire in Gaza "is an emotional moment for the people of Israel," and for Israeli soldiers.

"We will do everything possible to protect the security of the residents of the western Negev, the south and the entire country," Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said at a news conference, according to The Times of Israel.

He said when Hamas launched its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the Gaza war, "the most important contract with the citizens of Israel was violated. We weren't there for Israeli citizens at their most difficult time."

"Since then … we have not stopped for a moment, and we never will," he said.

Defrin said that "Hamas today is not the Hamas of two years ago," adding that the U.S.- and Israeli designated terrorist group, "has been defeated everywhere we fought it."

The bodies of 81 people were recovered from various areas across the Gaza Strip Friday morning, including 73 in Gaza City, CBS News' team in Gaza reported Friday, citing hospital sources in the Palestinian territory.

Hamas police officials also returned to the streets of Gaza City following the Israeli military's repositioning on Friday, our team in Gaza reported. 

Israeli troops launched a ground offensive in the city, Gaza's largest, in September, and they had continued operating there until Friday morning.

Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said in a Facebook post on Friday that 17 people were killed as a result of Israeli military action over the preceding 24 hours.

A total of 67,211 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties.

CBS News' Debora Patta said Israel continued its military operations right up until the ceasefire took effect on Friday morning.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the volunteer-based organization representing the families of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack, said in a statement Friday that "no leader or organization has done more for peace around the world than President Donald J. Trump." 

"While the Norwegian Nobel Committee chose a different recipient this year, the truth remains undeniable," the group said.  "President Trump's unprecedented achievements in peacemaking this past year speak for themselves, and no award or lack thereof can diminish the profound impact he has had on our families and on global peace." 

An Israeli police spokesperson said Friday that preparations were underway ahead of an expected visit by President Trump to Israel on Monday. 

"The Israel Police is completing preparations for the visit of the President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump, to Israel, this coming Monday," Superintendent David Filo, Head of the Police Operations Division, said in a statement Friday

"Thousands of police officers, Border Guard soldiers and volunteers will operate starting in the early hours of Monday morning to provide security, maintain public order and direct traffic during the state visit, which is expected to last several hours," Filo said.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice released on Friday a list of 250 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released as part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Under the terms of the deal, Palestinian prisoners are only expected to go free after a 72-hour period, by the end of which all remaining Israeli hostages, living and dead, are to be released. That 72-hour period ends on Monday afternoon in Israel. 

An Israeli official told CBS News on Friday that Hamas would release all the remaining hostages by noon local time on Monday, which would be 5 a.m. Eastern. 

The Rafah crossing from southern Gaza into Egypt will reopen on Tuesday in coordination with European Union authorities and the White House, the Italian Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday. 

"The Rafah crossing, on October 14, 2025, in compliance with the Trump agreement, in coordination between the European Union and the parties, will be opened alternately in two directions: exit towards Egypt and entry towards Gaza," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in the statement. 

Crosetto also said that operations for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners would begin Sunday. 

The EU Border Assistance Mission at Rafah — a civilian mission that provides a neutral third party presence on the Gaza-Egypt border —  will be present to monitor the border's reopening, the defense minister said.

CBS News' team in Gaza reported Friday that displaced Gazans had begun returning to northern parts of the war-torn enclave, as the Israeli military partially withdrew its forces in line with the ceasefire agreement. 

Displaced Palestinians were seen traveling up Al Rasheed road, the main artery along Gaza's Mediterranean coast. 

Eyewitnesses reported seeing full-scale destruction in Gaza City, where Israeli forces had been conducting ground operations right up until Friday morning when the ceasefire took effect. 

Witnesses told CBS News that extensive damage was visible in neighborhoods across Gaza City, and in Al-Shati Refugee Camp on the city's western side.

International Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric said Friday that the return of hostages and Palestinian prisoners must be carried out "safely and with dignity" 

"ICRC teams in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank will support its implementation by helping to return hostages and detainees to their families. We are also ready to help return human remains so families can mourn their loved ones with dignity," Spoljaric said. "The ceasefire must hold. Lives depend on it." 

An Arab diplomat and a source familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel newspaper that Hamas had agreed during talks in Egypt not to hold public ceremonies during the handover of hostages to Israel, as it had done during previous releases.

Gal Hirsch, the Hostage and Missing Persons Coordinator for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, told CBS News on Thursday that an international team would be established to locate missing hostages "in the coming days." 

Hamas had said in a statement last week that it had agreed to the release of all Israeli hostages — living and dead — provided "that appropriate field conditions are ensured for the exchange process."

Israeli officials have said it is believed that only 20 of the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza are still alive. 

President Trump's senior envoy Steve Witkoff said Friday in a social media post that the U.S. military's Central Command had "confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces completed the first phase withdrawal to the yellow line at 12PM local time," adding that the "72 hour period" for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages "has begun."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel is "tightening the noose around Hamas from all sides," and vowed that Gaza would be demilitarized following the Israeli government's approval of a peace plan to end the war. 

"Hamas will disarm and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this can be achieved the easy way, all the better; if not, it will be achieved the hard way," Netanyahu said, addressing reporters. 

The Israeli leader defended his record in prosecuting the war in Gaza, which has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza health authorities. 

"Anyone who claims that this hostage deal was always on the table is simply not telling the truth. Hamas never agreed to release all the hostages while we remained deep inside the Strip. It agreed only when the sword was on its neck, and that sword is still there," Netanyahu said. 

An Israeli security source told CBS News on Friday that 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were set to enter Gaza in the coming days as the ceasefire takes hold.

The trucks will be from United Nations agencies, as well as other approved international organizations, the private sector and donor countries, the security source said. 

The aid will mainly consist of "food, medical equipment, shelter equipment, as well as fuel to operate essential systems and cooking gas."

"Residents will be allowed to leave through the Rafah Crossing in coordination with Egypt, after security approval by Israel and under the supervision" of a European Union delegation," the source told CBS News. 

A spokesperson for the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told CBS News Friday that an expanded flow of aid had not yet been allowed into the war-torn Palestinian enclave. UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, also said there had been no increase in the flow of aid into Gaza early on Friday.

Large plumes of smoke billowed into the skies above Gaza on Friday morning, and CBS News' Debora Patta said Israeli bombs continued to fall on the Palestinian territory right up until the final hours before the military said the ceasefire had taken effect.

Israeli officials had said on Thursday that the ceasefire would take effect immediately upon the government's approval of the deal, which came late Thursday evening, but the explosions continued for hours after that.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in an Arabic language statement directed at residents of Gaza on Friday that the "Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain stationed in designated areas within the Gaza Strip."

"Do not approach IDF forces in these areas until further notice. Approaching these forces puts you at serious risk," the spokesperson said. 

An Israeli official told CBS News that Hamas would release all outstanding hostages by noon local time on Monday, which would be 5 a.m. Eastern. 

President Trump said Thursday that all of the remaining Israeli hostages, including the bodies of deceased hostages held in Gaza, would likely be released "Monday or Tuesday" as part of the peace deal. 

Israeli officials believe there are still 48 people held captive in Gaza, 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

The Israeli military said Friday that a ceasefire in Gaza came into effect at noon local time (5 a.m. Eastern)  and that Israeli troops had begun withdrawing from parts of Gaza as part of the first phase of President Trump's 20-point peace plan to end the two-year war and bring home the remaining Israeli hostages.

"Since 12:00, IDF troops began positioning themselves along the updated deployment lines in preparation for the ceasefire agreement and the return of hostages," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Friday.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told CBS News' partner network BBC News that Israeli troops would withdraw to a line leaving them in control of 53% of Gaza in the first phase of the plan. 

President Trump had said Wednesday on his Truth Social platform that Israel "will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line" as the first step towards his 20 point peace proposal to end the war in Gaza.