Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrossian said Sunday that Israel expects all living hostages held by Hamas to be released to the Red Cross early Monday.
Bedrossian told reporters in Tel Aviv that after their release, the hostages would be transferred across the border to Israel and taken to the Rem military base.
The coffin containing the body of the deceased hostage will be draped with an Israeli flag before being taken to a forensic facility for identification.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday that Israel was “ready to immediately accept all hostages.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office shared Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments regarding X after a meeting with POW/MIA Coordinator Gal Hirsch.
Hamas begins preparations for hostage release
According to Israeli media reports, Hamas began moving the hostages to assembly points ahead of their release.
Earlier, news broke that Hamas could release the men on Sunday after US Vice President J.D. Vance said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that “they really should be released now.”
Vance added that there are no plans to deploy U.S. troops to either Israel or Gaza.
His announcement about the release of the hostages echoed U.S. media reports that Hamas had notified a mediator that it was willing to release about 20 live hostages, rather than wait until a pre-agreed date, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The release was planned for Monday and was expected to coincide with US President Donald Trump’s visit to Israel for a summit of world leaders and guarantors of the Gaza peace deal, followed by a visit to Egypt.
Trump may visit hospital on Monday
Meanwhile, President Trump also has a contingency plan that includes an additional emergency visit tomorrow to one of the hospitals accepting freed hostages.
President Trump plans to make a brief stop tomorrow, if conditions permit, at one of the hospitals accepting released prisoners, according to information obtained by The Times of Israel.
President Trump’s brief visit to Israel on Monday will include an airport welcome by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, a speech in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and a meeting with families of hostages.
The latest cease-fire, brokered by President Trump and key Arab negotiators, began on Friday and is a significant step toward ending the bloody two-year war sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others.
Additional sources of information • AP
