The final 20 living Israeli hostages are set to be released by Hamas in Gaza in a matter of hours, with preparations by Israeli defence and medical authorities to receive the captives after more than two years hidden away from the world.
The deadline for Hamas to release the captives is midday on Monday local time (8pm AEDT) — but the White House has suggested US President Donald Trump may meet some during a whistlestop tour of the region beginning on Monday morning.
Sources have told Israeli media the handovers could begin as early as 4am local time (midday AEDT), with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reportedly ready to provide a two-hour advance warning of the process beginning.
The ICRC is tasked with collecting the hostages from the militant group, and transporting them to the Israel-Gaza border where they will be handed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The remains of the 28 dead hostages could take longer to deliver.
Unlike the last ceasefire and hostage exchange in January and February, it is not expected there will be elaborate staged handover ceremonies.
The spectacles organised by Hamas fuelled fury throughout the Israeli community, and sparked a rebuke from the ICRC for undermining the dignity of the hostages.
The process in Gaza will trigger the release of almost 2,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails — among them 250 serving life sentences, and about 1,700 who have been taken since the start of the war in Gaza.
Many of those individuals would never have been charged.
Some of the convicted Palestinians will be deported to countries such as Egypt, rather than be allowed to return to the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Gaza.
The majority will be taken into Gaza, with preparations at the severely compromised Nasser Hospital underway to examine the detainees once they arrive in the war-ravaged strip.
"Israel is prepared and ready to immediately receive all of our hostages," Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Trump's whistlestop tour
It comes as the Israeli prime minister prepares to roll out the red carpet for Mr Trump, who is due to make a brief visit to Israel and Egypt on Monday local time.
US Vice-President JD Vance told American network NBC on Sunday that Mr Trump would meet some of the hostages in Israel.
"You can't say exactly the moment they will be released, but we have every expectation — that's why the president is going — that he will be greeting the hostages early next week," the vice-president said.
Mr Trump is due to address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, late on Monday morning before holding a summit of world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh.
The Egyptian tourist hotspot was the scene of the final negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, which delivered the breakthrough ceasefire and hostage deal late last week.
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are among those expected to join Mr Trump and co-chair Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt.
There are reports Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls parts of the West Bank, is invited, while Mr Netanyahu is left out.
Mr Trump is only expected to be in the region for around eight hours.
He has been lauded by many Israelis and Palestinians as providing the momentum for the deal, pressuring both the Netanyahu government and Hamas into reaching an agreement.
On Saturday night in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, many of the hostage families and their supporters said the peace deal had happened because of the US president and in spite of the Israeli prime minister, who stands accused of scuttling previous deals to avoid his coalition splintering.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has already promised the country will not stop hitting Hamas, despite the first phase of the peace deal coming into force.
"Israel's great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas's terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States," he said in a post on social media platform X.
"This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarizing Gaza and neutralizing Hamas of its weapons.
"I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission."
Aid reaches desperate Gazans
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the ruins of the Gaza Strip are getting their first taste of proper aid in months.
People flocked towards aid trucks in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, wading through mounds of rubble to take what they could carry.
Hundreds of trucks are expected to enter the strip during the ceasefire via the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel and Rafah crossing in Egypt.
"It's these people's right to live happily, it's their right to celebrate," a man told the ABC.
"They have been and sleeping on empty stomachs. Their children have been going to sleep and waking up hungry for 730 days.
"During the struggle, hunger, siege and genocide these people have been deprived of food and water for days, months and years.
"Their day has finally come for them to eat and drink.
"Despite life in Gaza being non-existent, despite Gaza being unfit for life and uninhabitable as most people in Gaza sleep without shelter, food or drink, today aid has started pouring in regularly and fully."
More 50,000 children were at risk of acute malnutrition and in need of immediate treatment, according to UNICEF.
The organisation aims to provide one million blankets for every child in Gaza and hopes to deliver wheelchairs and crutches, which it said had previously been blocked.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is banned from operating in Israel, has urged the Israeli authorities to allow it to take 6,000 trucks' worth of aid into Gaza.
The aid from Jordan and Egypt would include enough food to feed the population for three months.
A young boy carrying a large aid bag on his back told the ABC he had not seen food "for a long time".
Umm Muhammad Al-Shael said she could not send her children to bring food because it was dangerous.
"There is shooting, and the army is there, we can't just send our children to death. We risk our lives to feed our children," she said.
"We are displaced, and our homes are destroyed and there's no food for our children, so we came to get food for our children.
"We've been in this difficult situation for six months with no food, drink, or life or any of the necessities of life.
"All we want is for there to be a peace treaty so we can go back to our destroyed homes and pitch a tent on top."
Settlers want to take Gaza
While the deal to return hostages has been met with scenes of jubilation, many Israelis have doubts about whether peace is now possible.
Some are even angry the US-brokered plan has moved away from any suggestion Gazans would be forced out of the territory.
"We want to live in Gaza , we believe that Gaza is a part of the state of Israel," Hadar Bar-Chai says.
The 35-year-old mother of nine belongs to the Nachala Settler Movement, whose founder, Daniella Weiss has been sanctioned by the UK over her extremist views.
Ms Bar-Chai is one of dozens of the group's members who for the past week have been camping within sight of the Gaza border.
Asked what should happen to the Gazans if the settlers move in she says, "They can go."
Ms Bar-Chai says the 20-point US-plan for Gaza is a "mistake".
Views like these are supported by some members of Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, including Likud Member of the Knesset Osher Shekalim.
He declines to be interviewed by the ABC on a visit to the settlers' camp, but later releases a video encouraging all Israelis to come and show their support for the movement.
"To send a message that settling … in the north of the Gaza Strip and even beyond is the true victory of the people of Israel."
It's a reminder that while bringing the hostages home has taken two years, it could be the easy part.
