Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning, a top official from the Palestinian militant group told AFP, before US President Donald Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region.

As part of the deal's first phase, Hamas, whose deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 sparked the conflict, will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

International agencies were preparing Saturday to pour aid into Gaza, hopeful a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will allow them to put an end to the famine haunting parts of the territory.

But optimism was marked with caution.

The fragile truce could open access, but aid agencies fear Israel may continue to impose restrictions on access under US President Donald Trump's plan.

Logistical hurdles are far from the mind of displaced father Marwan al-Madhun. The 34-year-old just wants to know when the trucks will arrive.

GAZA/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Thousands of Palestinians streamed north along the coast of Gaza on Saturday, trekking by foot, car and cart back to their abandoned homes as a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding.

Israeli troops pulled back under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered agreement reached this week to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left much of the enclave in ruins.

Several thousand members of a hard-right Pakistan Islamist party began marching towards the capital on Saturday, after violent clashes with police during anti-Israel protests in the eastern city of Lahore.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) began its protests in Lahore on Thursday and announced plans to march to the US embassy in Islamabad to voice its opposition to the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after two years of war in Gaza.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday condemned an overnight Israeli strike on civilian sites, which reportedly killed at least one person and which Israel said targeted Hezbollah infrastructure.

"Once again, southern Lebanon has been the target of a heinous Israeli aggression against civilian installations -- without justification or pretext," Aoun said.

"The seriousness of this latest attack lies in the fact that it comes after the ceasefire agreement in Gaza," he added, questioning whether Israel now sought to expand its attacks on Lebanon.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that Qatar will be allowed to build an air force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho that will house F-15 fighter jets and pilots.

The announcement comes soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to defend the Gulf Arab state against attacks, following Israeli air strikes targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha.

In the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley, Naef Jahaleen fears for the future as Israeli settlers come for the land home to one of the area's last Bedouin herding communities.

Life was good before in Ras Ein Al-Auja, the Bedouin herder says, but settlement outposts have grown one after the other over the past two years.

Settlers' trailers have gradually given way to houses with foundations, some built just 100 metres (109 yards) from Bedouin homes.

In May, settlers diverted the village's most precious resource -- the spring after which it is named.

US President Donald Trump has undeniably scored a diplomatic victory by helping to broker a truce for Gaza, but the path to the lasting peace he says he wants for the Middle East is littered with obstacles.

And it remains to be seen whether the 79-year-old Trump -- who is not exactly known for his attention to the fine print -- will devote the same level of energy to the conflict over the long term, once his victory lap in the region is over next week.

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Far-right activist Laura Loomer slammed President Donald Trump's administration on Friday over its deepening defense ties with Qatar and made false accusations that spread on social media that the Pentagon was giving it a military base on U.S. soil.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Friday said improving public education and healthcare was a priority, but made no reference to the youth movement that has been staging nationwide protests for sweeping social reforms.

"We have set as priorities... the creation of jobs for young people, and the concrete improvement of the education and health sectors," the monarch said in his annual address to the opening session of parliament.

The royal speech had been much anticipated by the protesters, who have taken to the streets almost every night since September 27.