'They're all tired of fighting': Trump says ceasefire between Israel and Hamas 'will hold'

US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence in the validity of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, saying that both sides are “tired of fighting”. His statement came after the Gaza peace plan came into effect late on Friday, and Palestinians began a trek back to their dilapidated homes in the region.

“It’s a great deal for Israel, but it’s a great deal for everybody," Trump said on Friday, adding that Hamas has lost “58,000 people.”

The most significant term of the deal is the hostage release, which will see all the remaining captives freed after over two years of war. Trump has said that the hostages will be released on Monday, with Hamas “getting them now” before they are freed.

More from World

Why Hamas has little choice but to accept Trump’s Gaza plan How one phone call changed Hamas’s view of Trump’s Gaza plan

“They’re in some pretty rough places under earth… only a few people know where they are… They’re also getting approximately 28 bodies. Some of those bodies are being unearthed,” the president said.

Gazans head home

Thousands of displaced Palestinians trekked over the wastelands of Gaza to return to the ruins of their abandoned homes on Friday, after a ceasefire took effect and Israeli troops began pulling back under the first phase of an agreement to end the war.

A huge column of people filed on foot north along the coastal road overlooking sandy beaches towards Gaza City, the enclave’s biggest urban area, which had been under attack just days ago in one of Israel’s biggest offensives of the war.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” Ismail Zayda, 40, said in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

As Trump counts down govt shutdown, Congress leaders blame one another for fund deadlock

India must factor nuclear threats into its security calculus: CDS Chauhan

In the south, people picked their way through the dusty moonscape that was once Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis, which Israeli forces razed this year. Most walked in silence.

Trump to visit Egypt

According to a report by Axios, Trump is likely to be in Egypt next week to hold a summit of world leaders on Gaza. The summit is being organised by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has already extended invitations to several European and Arab leaders.

Leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia are expected to attend the meeting.

With inputs from agencies