Netanyahu's office announced on Sunday that the prime minister had spoken with hostage affairs chief Gal Hirsch. US Vice President J.D. Vance said the hostages could be released"at any moment." Israeli TV station N12 reported that the release was expected overnight into Monday.
"Israel is prepared and ready to receive all our hostages immediately," Netanyahu said, according to his office. It was initially unclear whether Netanyahu's announcement meant this could happen as early as Sunday. A 72-hour deadline for the release of the hostages under US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan expires at noon on Monday. Hamas sources have previously stated that the terrorist organization will hand over all living and, if possible, the dead hostages by 5:00 a.m. CEST on Monday.
20 living hostages gathered
The Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas, through Arab intermediaries, informed Israel that it had gathered 20 live hostages and was ready to release them on Sunday. This was also the first time that Hamas had confirmed that 20 of the hostages kidnapped in the massacre on October 7, 2023, were still alive. According to Israeli information, a total of 48 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, including one woman. Seven of the hostages are also German citizens.
The return is to be organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross without a public ceremony or media representatives. After meetings with relatives and an initial medical examination at the Reim military camp on the edge of the Gaza Strip, the released hostages are expected to be flown to hospitals.
Concern about handing over dead hostages
Israel is also preparing to identify the bodies. The Ministry of Religious Services has completed the necessary preparations, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Kan radio. The ministry's director general, Yehuda Avidan, said there are concerns that the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas will not be able to hand over all the remains.
According to the agreement, the Islamist Hamas must hand over all the hostages. His greatest fear is that Hamas might declare that some bodies cannot be found, leaving the families without closure, Avidan said. Following strict security checks, the bodies would be taken to a forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification after the handover.
Israel: All Hamas tunnels must be destroyed
After the ceasefire with the release of the hostages, Israel plans to destroy all remaining underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip where the terrorist organization's fighters are holed up."Israel's major challenge after the hostage repatriation phase will be the destruction of all Hamas terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip," wrote Defense Minister Israel Katz on the X platform.
This should be done both directly by the Israeli army and"through the international mechanism that will be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States." Katz said he instructed the army "to prepare to carry out this task." The goal remains to demilitarize the Gaza Strip and disarm the terrorist organization Hamas.
After an initial withdrawal by the Israeli army, the military still controls 53 percent of the Gaza Strip, according to media reports. A further withdrawal is contingent on Hamas's willingness to lay down its weapons—something the terrorist organization has so far refused to do.
During the two-year Gaza war, the army reportedly destroyed numerous tunnels. How much of the extensive underground network still exists is unclear. According to previous reports, it was several hundred kilometers long and also ran beneath urban areas. Some of the hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, were also hidden in the tunnels.
