While major questions remain about the future of the region, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli officials said Israel had decided to restrict aid and delay plans to open the southern border crossing to Egypt because Hamas had violated the ceasefire deal by failing to turnover the bodies of hostages who had died after being captured in Hamas's invasion of Israel in October 2023.

Israel and Hamas took steps toward ending the two-year war that has devastated the Gaza Strip, but hard work lies ahead.

Medical teams at an Israeli hospital awaiting the arrival of hostages expected to be released from Gaza are "prepared for anything," Noa Eliakim Raz, head of the Returning Hostages Unit at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, told NBC News.

Twenty Israeli hostages were released in Gaza Oct. 13 as part of the initial phase of a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas has released the 20 living hostages still in Gaza. Monday's release is part of a ceasefire deal that many hope will lead to ending two years of war in the devastated territory.

Hamas handed 20 surviving hostages to the Red Cross, which then transferred them to Israeli hostages. Darius Johnson reports.

The US president was applauded by Israeli lawmakers for his role in brokering an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.