(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump announced Monday that large-scale humanitarian assistance had begun flowing into Gaza following the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

"Humanitarian aid is now pouring in, including hundreds of truckloads of food, medical equipment and other supplies, much of it paid for by people in this room. Civilians are returning to their homes. The hostages are reuniting," Trump told world leaders gathered at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt.

He described the developments as a hopeful turning point for the region. "A new and beautiful day is rising, and now the rebuilding begins. Rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part. I think we've done a lot of the hardest part, because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anybody in the world," he said.

Trump expressed his "tremendous gratitude to the Arab and Muslim nations who helped make this incredible breakthrough possible."

The US president stressed that the reconstruction process must ensure Gaza’s demilitarization and the formation of a trustworthy civilian security force. “We’re also agreed that Gaza’s reconstruction requires that it be demilitarized and that a new honest civilian police force [be created] to create a safe condition for the people in Gaza,” Trump said.

Earlier Monday, Israel and Hamas carried out a prisoner exchange that included the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli prisons—among them those held in the Ofer military facility and in the Negev Desert—while Hamas freed all 20 surviving Israeli captives.

Upon arriving at the summit, Trump said efforts were continuing to recover the remains of hostages who had died in captivity. "They know where numerous are, you know, I guess five or six are in yet now," he said. "They're looking for bodies. They know the areas and the search parties out, and they're doing it in conjunction with Israel, and they're going to be finding quite a few of them."

According to reports, since October 2023, Israeli military operations have killed more than 67,800 Palestinians in Gaza—most of them women and children—leaving the territory devastated and nearly uninhabitable.

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