Hamas ready to begin freeing 20 living Israeli hostages a day earlier than expected in Trump peace deal

Hamas ready to begin freeing 20 living Israeli hostages a day earlier than expected in Trump peace deal

Hamas has said it is ready to begin freeing the 20 living hostages as early as Sunday, a day earlier than expected, according to insiders.

The terror group told Israel that it has the hostages ready to exchange before President Trump — the architect of the peace deal — arrives in the region, sources familiar with the deal told the Wall Street Journal.

While the hostages’ release was widely assumed to be taking place Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Jewish state is ready for whenever it happens.

“Israel is prepared and ready to immediately receive all of our hostages.” Netanyahu said Sunday.

Hamas is obligated to release the hostages it has under the peace agreement Trump helped broker between the terror group and Israel. Hamas is thought to have 20 living hostages and at least 28 bodies of dead hostages.

Under the deal, which was finalized last week, Hamas has a 72-hour deadline to release the hostages to Israel, which has acknowledged that it will likely take additional time to retrieve the bodies of the captives who died. 

That’s largely because Hamas claimed it doesn’t know the location of some of the bodies. 

“The IDF has completed its preparations for the release of the hostages and assesses that all of them will be released before Trump’s arrival,” a source told the Kan public broadcaster.

Trump is slated to touch down in Israel early Monday, where he is expected to address the Knesset and will then head to Egypt as part of a trip to mark the historic peace agreement. 

As part of the agreement, a large cache of humanitarian aid is being readied to enter the beleaguered Gaza Strip. The deal had stipulated that humanitarian aid must flow into the Gaza Strip at a minimum rate of the level agreed to in January.

Humanitarian aid set to flow into Gaza includes 400 trucks with 9,000 tons of resources such as medical supplies, flour, fuel, blankets, mobile bathrooms, and more, the Egyptian Red Crescent said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that the Jewish state is still demanding that its forces can destroy the remnants of Hamas’ elaborate tunnel system in the Gaza Strip after the hostages are released. 

That effort will be done in coordination with the international effort to reconstruct Gaza, according to Katz.

Israel is thought to have only wiped out 30% to 40% of the tunnel system, per the Wall Street Journal. 

Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan for Israel and Gaza on Sept. 29. The framework was widely applauded by European and Arab allies.

Israel initially supported the plan, and Hamas ultimately agreed to it on Wednesday evening after days of detailed negotiations with mediators. On late Thursday, Israel’s cabinet voted to approve the deal.

The major diplomatic breakthrough paved the way to end the bloody war that had spanned over two years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, and also laid out a framework for the reconstruction of Gaza.