JERUSALEM, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — Hamas is expected to release all 20 living hostages held in Gaza early Monday morning, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said on Sunday.
Speaking at a press briefing, Bedrosian said an international task force would be established to help locate the remains of hostages who died in captivity and whose bodies Hamas has been unable to find.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held for a third consecutive day on Sunday, as both sides prepared for the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
Bedrosian said Israel expects all 20 living hostages to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross Monday morning, before being transferred to Israeli forces in Gaza. From there, they will be taken to a military base in Israel and later for medical checks in hospitals, where they will reunite with their families.
She said a convoy of ambulances will be on standby in case urgent medical assistance is needed, adding that the Israeli military and hospitals were ready to receive the hostages earlier if Hamas moves ahead of schedule.
Under an agreement reached in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, Hamas is to release 20 living and 28 deceased hostages within 72 hours of the Israeli army’s withdrawal to the “yellow line” in Gaza, the first of three withdrawal stages, by Monday at 12:00 p.m. local time.
Hamas has already indicated that it may not be able to locate all the bodies of deceased hostages by that deadline.
Earlier on Sunday, media reports suggested that Hamas had told mediators it was ready to release the living hostages as early as Sunday, ahead of the agreed deadline, if Israel freed at least two of seven high-profile Palestinian prisoners who were previously removed from the release list. There was no official Israeli response.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday morning for a brief visit. He is scheduled to address the Knesset, meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and families of the hostages, and then travel to Egypt to co-chair a summit on Gaza with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, attended by around 20 world leaders.
The deal, part of the U.S.-proposed 20-point plan aimed at ending the war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, also includes the release of about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and increased humanitarian aid access to Gaza, which has been devastated by Israeli bombardments.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that after the hostages are back home, all the remaining Hamas tunnels in Gaza will be destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces and an “international mechanism to be established under U.S. leadership and oversight.”
The war was triggered by a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of around 250. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza, including two years of airstrikes, shelling, and ground operations, has killed at least 67,806 people and injured 170,066 others, according to Gaza’s health authorities, in addition to causing famine and destroying the vast majority of the enclave’s infrastructure and buildings. ■
Israel says Hamas to free all surviving hostages Monday as Gaza ceasefire holds for third day
