Sharm El-Sheikh is preparing to host the “Peace Summit” today (AFP).

US President Donald Trump announced that the war “ended” in Gaza as he headed late Sunday night to Israel and then Egypt, where he will chair a “Peace Summit” in Sharm El-Sheikh today, while Hamas prepares to release the remaining hostages after two years of captivity.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in response to a question about whether he was confident the conflict between Israel and Hamas was over, “The war is over. Okay? Do you understand that?”

Before taking off from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, Trump described his trip to the Middle East as “very special.”

Trump will spend a few hours in Israel, arriving Monday morning on his first visit to the Jewish state since his re-election as president.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech, called the anticipated return of hostages held in Gaza a “historic event,” saying, “Together we have achieved tremendous victories that amazed the whole world. And I want to tell you: wherever we fought, we achieved victory, but at the same time, I tell you the battle is not over.”

He added, “We still face very significant security challenges. Some of our enemies are trying to recover to strike us again. But we (…) will take care of them,” without further details.

The plan drawn up by Trump to stop the war calls for the release of the 47 remaining hostages in Gaza out of 251 kidnapped in the October 7, 2023 attack, including twenty whom Israel believes are still alive, plus the remains of a hostage held in 2014.

In return, Israel will release 250 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, and 1,700 detainees from Gaza held since the outbreak of the war.

The release of the hostages is expected “early Monday morning,” according to Netanyahu’s spokeswoman Shosh Pedrosoyan.

The Israeli government expects the release of the twenty living hostages together (and their delivery) at the same time to the Red Cross and their transfer in six to eight vehicles.

In the evening, an Israeli military official said it was not expected that all the bodies of hostages held in Gaza would be returned to Israel on Monday.

The official added during a press briefing late Sunday, “Unfortunately, we expect that not all the bodies of deceased hostages will be returned tomorrow.”

A source familiar with the negotiations said Hamas had completed preparations to hand over the living hostages but stressed that the movement insists that Israel release seven Palestinian leaders in the exchange.

The source added, “Hamas insists that the final list include the seven senior leaders, most notably Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, Ibrahim Hamid, and Abbas Al-Sayyid,” which was confirmed by another source.

The spokeswoman for the Israeli government announced that “the Palestinian detainees will be released as soon as Israel confirms the arrival of all our hostages scheduled to be released tomorrow across the border.”

Gaza governance

Trump begins his visit to the region with a stop in Israel where he will deliver a speech at the Knesset and meet the families of Monday’s hostages, before moving to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to attend the Peace Summit during which, in the presence of the world’s top leaders, “a document ending the war in Gaza Strip will be signed,” according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Several Israeli hospitals are preparing to receive the released hostages, while Israeli prison authorities indicated the transfer of Palestinian prisoners to two prisons in preparation for their release.

The administration of the Gaza Strip, torn by a two-year-long war, will be one of the issues discussed.

A diplomatic source informed of the signing ceremony told AFP on condition of anonymity that “the signatories will be the guarantor parties: the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and possibly Turkey.”

Israel announced Sunday it would not send any representative to the summit, a decision previously announced by a Hamas official on Saturday.

Iran also announced Monday that its president Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would not attend the Gaza summit, after confirming they received an invitation from the host country.

Despite progress made, mediators still need to reach a long-term political settlement requiring Hamas to hand over its weapons and relinquish control of Gaza.

A Hamas source close to the negotiating delegation told AFP Sunday that the movement will not participate in governing Gaza during the transitional phase following the war.

The source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said, “For Hamas, the issue of governing the Gaza Strip is a closed matter. Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, meaning it has relinquished control of the Strip but remains a key element of the Palestinian fabric.”

In response to demands related to the movement giving up its weapons, he said Hamas agrees to a long truce and not to use weapons at all during this period except in case of Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Under Trump’s plan, Israel will gradually withdraw its forces from Gaza cities, to be replaced by a multinational force including troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a command center under American supervision in Israel.

The government will entrust a “technocratic and non-political Palestinian committee” placed “under the supervision and control of a new international transitional authority” headed by Trump.