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Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World's Service.

I'm Rebecca Kesbby in London, and Tim Franks is in Tel Aviv.

And welcome to a place that, in the sincere hope of most of the people here should not exist for much more than a day.

I'm speaking to you from a plaza, a public square in Tel Aviv in front of the Museum of Modern Art.

And for most of the last two years, the world has got to know it as hostages square, the place in Israel more than any other, where the families of the hostages kidnapped and taken into Gaza on October the 7th, 2023, have rallied and insisted, sometimes angrily, that the government do more to bring their relatives home.

Now, all the signs are that by this time,

tomorrow, Monday, those hostages, 20 of them believed to be alive, 28 of them thought to be dead,

will be returned. And of course, inside Gaza, there's also the profound hope that the devastation,

the death and starvation

has also come to an end. We'll hear from Gaza in 30 minutes. Let's begin here, though,

in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, among those who are hoping that after two years, the

hostages' ordeal is about to be over.

We are here because we care. We are here because we care.

We are here because we are very excited,

and we're here because we are waiting in anticipation

for our people to come back

and to pay respect to the families.

And to feel a part of this unusual but very, very necessary day.

Have you been to Hostages Square before?

Yes, I have been many times during the protest times.

Actually, I've been there one day after October 7th and I was

...