Preparations begin to ramp up aid in Gaza as ceasefire brings hope for end two-year war 

Displaced Palestinians walk amid destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Saturday

Preparations were underway yesterday to ramp up aid entering the war-battered Gaza Strip under a new ceasefire deal that many are hoping will signal an end to the devastating 2-year-long war.

The Israeli defense body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said the amount of aid entering the Palestinian territoryis expected to increase on Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.

Egypt said it was sending 400 aid trucks into Gaza yesterday. The trucks will have to be inspected by Israeli forces before being allowed in.

Associated Press footage showed dozens of trucks crossing the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. The Egyptian Red Crescent said they carried medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and fuel. The trucks will head to the inspection area in the Kerem Shalom crossing for screening by Israeli troops.

Expanding Israeli offensives and restrictions on humanitarian aidhave triggered a hunger crisis, including famine in parts of the territory.

The United Nations has said it has about 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid ready to enter once Israel gives the green light.

Abeer Etifa, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said workers were clearing and repairing roads inside Gaza on Sunday to facilitate delivery.

Gaza Humanitarian Fund’s future in question

The fate of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli- and U.S.-backed contractor that replaced the U.N. aid operation in May as the primary food supplier in Gaza, remains unclear.

Food distribution sites operated by the group in the southernmost city of Rafah and central Gaza were dismantled following the ceasefire deal, several Palestinians said Sunday.

GHF had been touted by Israel and the United States as an alternative system to prevent Hamas from taking over aid. However, its operations were mired in chaos and hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while heading to its four sites. The Israeli military has said its troops fired warning shots to control crowds.

A GHF representative said in a statement that there might be “tactical changes in GHF operations and temporary closures of some distribution sites” during the transfer of hostages to Israel but “there is no change to our long-term plan.”

Preparations for hostage, prisoner release, Trump visit

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

A message sent Saturday from Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing and obtained by the AP, told hostage families to prepare for the release of their loved ones, starting on Monday morning. One of the families of the hostages confirmed the note’s authenticity.

Hirsch said preparations in hospitals and in Rei’im camp were complete to receive the live hostages, while the dead will be transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.

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.

Israeli officials believe about 20 of the hostages out of 48 held by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza are still alive. All of the living hostages are expected to be released today.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who pushed to clinch the ceasefire deal, is expected to arrive in Israel this 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.

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.

Health authorities in Gaza are preparing for the return of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners — many of whom are expected to require “urgent treatment” — and dead bodies taken by Israel’s military from the strip, Dr. Mounir al-Boursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in the enclave, said in a statement.

Gaza residents return home

Palestinians continued to move back to areas vacated by Israeli forces Sunday, although many were returning to homes reduced to rubble.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed a line of vehicles traveling north to Gaza City. The photos taken Saturday showed a line of vehicles on Al Rashid Street, which runs north-south along the Gaza Strip’s coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.

Tents along the coast also could be seen near Gaza City’s marina. Many people have been living along the sea to avoid being targeted in Israeli bombardment of the city.

Armed police were seen in Gaza City and southern Gaza patrolling the streets and securing aid trucks driving through areas from which the Israeli military had withdrawn, according to residents. The police force is part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

The pause in fighting allowed first responders and residents to search previously inaccessible areas for bodies buried under rubble. Health officials said more than 100 bodies were recovered and brought to hospitals between Friday and Saturday.

Yasser el-Bureis, who was at the morgue in Nasser hospital in Khan Younis Sunday, said he and his relatives had finally retrieved the bodies of his two cousins killed months earlier when they were trying to flee their homes.

“For five months, we didn’t manage to recover the bodies,” he said.  SAMY MAGDY, SARAH EL DEEB & MELANIE LIDMAN, CAIRO, MDT/AP