Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said that the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza could be released at “any moment now,” ahead of a Monday deadline, as part of the first phase of a peace plan between Israel and Hamas.
“It really should be any moment now,” the vice president told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” when asked about the timing for the release of the hostages.
“The president of the United States is planning to travel to the Middle East to greet the hostages Monday morning, Middle Eastern Time,” Vance added. “Which should be late, you know, Sunday night, or very early Monday morning here in the United States.”
The vice president stressed that, “you can’t say exactly the moment they will be released, but we have every expectation — that’s why the president is going — that he will be greeting the hostages early next week.”
Trump is expected to travel to the Middle East later Sunday for a whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt to oversee the beginning of the first phase of a peace deal the Trump administration helped negotiate between Israel and Hamas.
After a ceasefire began on Friday as part of the first phase of the peace deal, Israel began to prepare for the release of the hostages within the next 72 hours, a deadline that expires at noon local time on Monday, or 5 a.m. ET.
There are 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of which Israel believes 20 are alive.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, also predicted the release of Israeli hostages sooner than expected.
“I think [Hamas] might start even releasing them tonight. So, earlier than expected,” Haskel said, adding later that, “We really hope to see them as quickly as possible.”
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