Cairo: A ceasefire in the war in Gaza was holding for the third day on Sunday as aid agencies worked to rush in more desperately needed aid to the besieged territory under the truce deal. Preparations were also underway for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
US President Donald Trump, who pushed to clinch the ceasefire deal, is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday 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.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry has deployed thousands of police in areas the Israeli military withdrew from after the ceasefire took effect.
Armed policemen were seen on Gaza City streets and in southern Gaza on Saturday, providing a sense of security to the local population. The police also provided security for aid trucks driving through areas not controlled by the Israeli military, according to residents.
The largest humanitarian actor in Gaza, UNRWA, which has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of aid waiting outside in Egypt and Jordan, said it had no clarity on its role in the new scaling up of relief provided to Gaza.
Spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees is “standing ready” to contribute and has enough food supplies in its warehouses for the entire population of the Gaza Strip for
three months.
As Trump prepares to travel to the Middle East, his vice president said he believes “we are on the cusp of peace in Gaza for the first time – not just in a couple of years, but really in a very long time.”
Trump has been able to “unite the Israelis with the Gulf Arab states for a common objective, and that is to bring the hostages home, to stop the war and to build the kind of long-term settlement that we really do believe can lead to a lasting peace,” JD Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
He said about 200 troops from US Central Command are already in the region to monitor the terms of the ceasefire and help ensure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“It’s not going to be necessary for American troops to be in Gaza,” Vance said.
Associated Press footage showed dozens of trucks crossing the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip. 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.
Abeer Etifa, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said workers were clearing roads inside Gaza on Sunday to facilitate delivery.
The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said that the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip is expected to increase on Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.
Egypt said it is sending 400 aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday. The trucks will have to be inspected by Israeli forces before being allowed in.