The final Israeli hostages held in Gaza may soon be released as Hamas leaders head to Cairo for discussions aimed at solidifying the initial phase of Donald Trump’s peace initiative.

If the negotiations scheduled in Egypt for Sunday or Monday proceed smoothly, the remaining 48 hostages might be liberated ‘within a few days,’ according to a senior Israeli official speaking to Channel 12 News.

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to the region to finalize the details of the hostage release, a White House official confirmed.

However, with 20 hostages presumed dead, Hamas has stated it can no longer access their burial sites, a factor that could complicate the timeline.

In a further indication that Trump’s 20-point peace plan might be accepted in Gaza, Islamic Jihad—a militant group involved in the October 7 attacks—endorsed a Hamas statement released Friday, wherein the group expressed its willingness to release the hostages.

Following Hamas’s announcement of its readiness to release all hostages and negotiate the peace plan’s specifics, Trump called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

But despite the U.S presidents calls for a ceasefire, which were echoed by the families of the Israeli hostages, Israel says its troops are still operating in Gaza and warns residents not to return.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says at least 66 people in Gaza were killed by Israeli aggression in the last 24 hours.

The Hamas-run health ministry says another 265 injured people have arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the same time frame.

It comes after Israel said on Saturday that it had deported 137 more activists who were detained while taking part in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

The Israeli foreign ministry said those deported were citizens of the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Jordan and several other countries.

The ministry said in a post on X that ‘137 more provocateurs of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla were deported today to Turkey’.

‘Israel seeks to expedite the deportation of all provocateurs,’ it added.

On Friday, Israel deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from the flotilla.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.

The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday, and an Israeli official said the following day that boats with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Palestinian territory.

It comes as tens of thousands of people are marching in Barcelona as Spain, Italy and Portugal gear up for mass demonstrations to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.

Protests in Spain’s second-largest city as well as in Madrid were called for weeks ago, while calls for demonstrations in Rome and Lisbon followed widespread anger after the Israeli interception of a humanitarian aid flotilla that had set sail from Barcelona, in an attempt to break the Gaza blockade. 

More than 40 Spaniards, including a former Barcelona mayor, are among the 450 activists that Israel removed from the flotilla’s boats this week.

Italy already saw more than 2 million people rally on Friday across the country in a one-day general strike to support the residents of Gaza.

Spain has seen an upsurge of support for Palestinians in recent weeks while its left-wing government intensifies diplomatic efforts against the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Protests against the presence of an Israeli-owned cycling team repeatedly disrupted the Spanish Vuelta last month, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the destruction in Gaza a ‘genocide’ and asked for the ban of all Israeli teams from international sporting events.

The calls for protests in Southern Europe come as Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the plan laid out by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the two-year war, which has left Gaza’s largest city in famine and stirred accusations of genocide against Israel.

Barcelona’s town hall said police estimated that 70,000 turned out for Saturday’s demonstration.

People packed Barcelona’s wide Passeig de Gracia, the city’s main central boulevard.

 Many families turned out, along with people of all ages. Protesters carried Palestinian flags or wore t-shirts supporting Palestine. Hand-held signs bore messages like ‘Gaza hurts me,’ ‘Stop the Genocide,’ and ‘Hands off the flotilla.’

While the protests will likely not sway Israel’s government, protesters hope they could inspire other demonstrations and encourage European leaders to take a harder line against Israel.

María Jesús Parra, 63, carried a Palestinian flag high after making an hourlong trip from her home in another town to Barcelona. 

She wants the European Union to act against what she described as the horrors she sees on the news each day.

‘How is it possible that we are witnessing a genocide happening live after what we (as Europe) experienced in the 1940s?’ Parra said. ‘Now nobody can say they didn’t know what was happening.’

A protest in Rome is also underway, organized by three Palestinian organizations along with local unions and students. 

The protesters will march from Porta San Paolo and end at San Giovanni. Police expect tens of thousands to attend, state broadcaster Rai reported.

The protests in Madrid and Lisbon are to follow later on Saturday. There are also protests called across many other Spanish cities.

A protest is also being staged in Athens Saturday afternoon, although police believe a larger one is expected Sunday, to coincide with a pro-Israeli rally.

The war in Gaza started after Hamas’s attack in October 2023, which left around 1,200 people dead, while 251 others were taken hostage. 

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has so far killed over 67,000 people and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. U.N. agencies and many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.