Donald Trump says Hamas is gathering Israeli hostages ‘now’

He's confident the deal will 'hold'

Hamas is currently gathering the Israeli hostages kidnapped and taken to Gaza over two years ago, before handing them over.

They have until 12:00 local time (10:00 BST) on Monday to release the hostages.

Hamas has said that retrieving the bodies of the 26 hostages confirmed dead will take longer.

Meanwhile, Palestinians return to the rubble that's left in northern Gaza.

As part of a historic peace deal, the 20 remaining Israeli hostages will be taken back to Israel in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.

A large part of northern Gaza has been destroyed by two years of war, with nearly three-quarters of Gaza City's buildings damaged.

Part of the peace deal includes the final lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, allowing up to 600 trucks a day, according to both sides, as reported by Sky News.

During a cabinet meeting earlier this week, Trump took a victory lap on the agreement between Israel and Hamas to implement the first phase of his 20-point peace plan.

"Last night, we reached a momentous breakthrough in the Middle East, something that people said was never going to be done," Trump said as he summoned his Cabinet for a meeting at the White House.

There was going to be "peace in the Middle East", he said.

"I think it’s going to be a lasting peace, hopefully an everlasting peace," he added, no ambition being too great, per The Guardian.