Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas failed to free the captives held there by Saturday at noon. The Israeli military said it was deploying troops in the country’s south, including calling up additional reservists, to prepare for any “possible scenario”.

But Trump's plan for rebuilding Gaza calls for the country, as well as Egypt, to take in close to 2 million more Palestinians he says can be removed from Gaza so that the war-torn land can be transformed into what he calls "the Riviera of the Middle East" under his watch.