Countdown to release: How Israel is preparing to bring hostages home from Gaza

Israel continues to prepare for the release of the hostages as part of President Trump’s plan for ending the war. This Saturday evening, new details were revealed in the main news broadcast about how the release process will unfold.

The IDF has placed special forces teams on immediate standby inside the Gaza Strip, in case Hamas moves up the timetable for releasing the hostages – though Israel currently assesses that the release will take place on Monday morning.

As in previous releases, representatives of the Red Cross will meet Hamas operatives inside the Strip, where they will receive the living hostages – this time without ceremonies or delays. From there, the hostages will be handed over to a special IDF unit, which will transfer them to the initial reception facility at Re’im.

The release is expected to happen in a single phase, but the IDF is also preparing for the possibility that it may occur in several phases and from multiple locations. If any of the hostages require urgent medical attention, they will be airlifted by helicopter directly from Gaza to Israeli hospitals, bypassing the reception site. The families of the hostages will also arrive at the Re’im facility, where they will be reunited for the first time in two years, undergo initial medical checks, and then be flown to hospitals.

After the release of the living hostages, Hamas has committed to handing over all the bodies of the deceased hostages to the Red Cross, following a security inspection. The bodies will then be taken for identification at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir.

Hamas’ Message: We Might Not Be Able to Return All the Bodies

Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, the mechanism for implementing the ceasefire has begun operating. In its first stage, it will oversee the release of the living and deceased Israeli hostages, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Later, the mechanism is expected to coordinate humanitarian aid and the long-term reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said that Hamas will release 20 living hostages, but that Israel has received a message indicating Hamas may not be able to return all of the bodies. As part of the mechanism’s work, Hamas has pledged to pass on all the information it has about the deceased hostages to the mediators – Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt – while Israel will share its own information, based partly on the interrogation of captured militants. The goal is to assemble an up-to-date picture that will enable the recovery of all the hostages. This process is not expected to conclude before Monday morning.

Yesterday, an American delegation arrived in Israel led by a three-star general, accompanied by a team of about 200 U.S. Army personnel, who have established the operational site at Hatzor Airbase.

The American mechanism is currently operating broadly in line with President Trump’s plan. At the same time, its members have already begun coordinating the initial stages of humanitarian aid and Gaza’s reconstruction. According to the plans, Gulf states – including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and possibly even Indonesia, which has expressed willingness to participate – will invest billions of dollars in rebuilding the Strip.