Good evening. I'm John Yang.

President Trump leaves Washington and the government shutdown behind to highlight a diplomatic deal-making accomplishment in the Middle East,

the anticipated release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

This afternoon, he left the White House headed to Israel.

This is the first time everybody is amazed and they're thrilled and it's an honor to be involved.

And we're going to have an amazing time.

And it's going to be something that's never, never happened before.

Tomorrow, Mr. Trump is to meet with hostage families and address the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

Then he'll fly to the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Charmel Sheikh

for a summit of Arab leaders who backed the agreement. Inside Gaza, the Israeli military

pulled back to a new defensive line as part of the ceasefire. And desperate Palestinians

swarmed aid trucks, not even waiting for them to stop before clamoring for supplies.

The next steps are unclear, as many details about the future of Gaza have yet to be worked out.

Ansel Fephyr is the Israel correspondent for the economist.

He's based in Jerusalem.

Ansel, the release of the hostages, as expected tomorrow, is going to close a chapter,

a two-year chapter that's been painful on both sides, both in Israel and in Gaza, albeit in different ways.

What's the mood in Israel where you are, and is there any way you can tell what Gazans are feeling?

Well, the mood in Israel is both expectant, but also there is concern that something can go wrong with the last moon.

And the vigils I went wrong with the last moment.

And the vigils I went to over the last couple of days were all,

hopefully this is the last time we're standing here.

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