Palestinians return home as truce holds

Israel and Hamas were preparing for a prisoner-hostage swap by Monday as thousands of Palestinians walked through rubble on their way home, with ceasefire conditions holding for the third day.

"Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go," said Mahmoud al-Shandoghli in Gaza City as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of conflict.

Although still limited, aid trucks at the Karem Abu Salem and Nitzana crossings have started rolling in for inspection, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.

Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow aid into the famine-stricken territory. A United Nations official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet public, said Israel has approved expanded aid deliveries, starting on Sunday.

In Israel's financial hub, Tel Aviv, crowds applauded United States President Donald Trump and some booed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, addressed a weekly rally that many hoped would be the last.

Kushner said they would celebrate on Monday, when Israel's military has said the 48 hostages still in Gaza would be freed, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The government believes around 20 remain alive. Kushner also noted the "suffering" in Gaza.

Some Israeli news outlets reported that Israel had changed 100 names on a list of prisoners that Hamas wanted to release amid the ceasefire agreement.

The developments are conducive to a peace summit on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, which would bring together more than 20 world leaders, including Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The gathering, hosted by the US and Egypt, aims to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability.

In another development, a Hamas source close to the group's negotiating committee told Agence France-Presse on Sunday that it will not take part in postwar Gaza governance.

"For Hamas, the governance of the Gaza Strip is a closed issue. Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Strip, but it remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric," the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

"Hamas agrees to a long-term truce, and for its weapons not to be used at all during this period, except in the event of an Israeli attack on Gaza," the source said.

Another Hamas official who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive topics had earlier told AFP that Hamas' disarmament was "out of the question".

Aid access

Meanwhile, UNICEF said on Friday that it has more than 1,300 trucks ready to bring in tents, nutrition items, essential medicines and vaccines, learning and recreation kits, as well as water and sanitation supplies.

However, key access remains restricted and distribution inside Gaza is yet to improve, as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is still barred by Israel.

Tom Fletcher, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said at a news briefing in New York on Thursday that there "must be no backsliding on the agreements that have been made".

He outlined what his agency hopes to deliver in the first 60 days of the ceasefire, including food to 2.1 million people, of which around 500,000 are estimated to need nutrition.

Despite the reported progress, Israeli forces carried out raids on Sunday morning, targeting the homes of several Palestinian prisoners expected to be released as part of the upcoming prisoner exchange deal, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Osamah Khalil, a history professor at Syracuse University in New York state, said it is imperative that the remaining phases of the peace deal are implemented and not undermined by Netanyahu, as he did in March by unilaterally ending the previous ceasefire.

"The Trump administration and the broader international community must commit to rebuilding Gaza and ensure the consistent supply of humanitarian assistance as well as sincere negotiations to finally achieve a Palestinian state. Otherwise, the peace deal will be unfulfilled, and the cycle of violence will continue," Khalil said.

Umer Karim, an associate fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said the ceasefire was a positive development with "only Trump (having) that sort of leverage over the Israelis to further push them to accept the agreement".

"Although we still need to wait and watch for the actual translation of the agreement on the ground, for now the signs are looking positive," Karim said.

"Saudi Arabia will be relieved at the specter of this ceasefire, as hopefully it will now lead to the phase of reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and also relative stability in the region."

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.