U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip was met with a hard "no" Sunday from the two U.S. allies along with the Palestinians themselves, who fear Israel would never allow them to return.

Trump floated the idea on Saturday, saying he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gaza's now largely homeless population, so that "we just clean out that whole thing." He added that resettling most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million could be temporary or long term.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Massive crowds of people carrying their belongings on foot stretched along a main highway running next to the coast in a stunning reversal of the mass exodus from the north at the start of the war, which many Palestinians had feared Israel would make permanent.

The United States, the world's biggest donor, has frozen virtually all foreign aid, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

Hamas militants handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday. Israel was set to release 200 Palestinian detainees later in the day as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

As the four were released, hundreds of people cheered in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square where they were watching the drama unfold on a big screen television.

When Dania Hanatsheh was released from an Israeli jail this week and dropped off by bus into a sea of jubilant Palestinians in Ramallah, it was an uncomfortable déjà vu.

After nearly five months of detention, it was the second time the 22-year-old woman had been freed as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be flying high.

Israel's enemies across the region have been badly weakened during 15 months of war. Israeli hostages have begun to come home from captivity in Gaza, and Netanyahu's good friend, Donald Trump, is back in the White House.

Experts from the U.S. Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus' premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday.

Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers (114 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as a transit point for the r epatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond on numerous occasions in the past. It has also served as a transit point for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

A senior Hamas official told AFP that his group will provide on Friday the names of four women hostages to be freed the following day as part of a second release under the ceasefire with Israel.

"Today, Hamas will provide the names of four hostages as part of the second prisoner exchange," said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, adding that the captives will be swapped for a group of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia's top diplomat landed in Syria on Friday, an AFP correspondent reported, in his first visit to Damascus since Islamist-led rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad last month.

Syrian authorities said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is set to meet with new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is eyeing investments from wealthy Gulf states to rebuild the war-torn country.

The United Nations voiced serious concerns Friday over the Israeli military's use of force in its raid this week in the West Bank, including methods "developed for war fighting".

"We are deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. The deadly Israeli operations in recent days raise serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including methods and means developed for war fighting, in violation of international human rights law, norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told a media briefing in Geneva.