WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas is imminent, pledging that the Trump administration would apply firm pressure to ensure future stability in Gaza.
“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 by Hamas.
He added later on ABC’s “This Week”: “We expect to see them alive here in the next 24 hours, probably early tomorrow morning, US time, which will be later in the day, of course, in Israel.”
Asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” whether Washington is committed to continuing to apply pressure to stabilize the Middle East, Vance said: “It is going to take consistent leverage and consistent pressure from the president of the United States on down.”
Speaking on a succession of Sunday morning talk shows, Vance also stressed that 200 American troops being deployed to Israel would be responsible for monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza and were never intended for any sort of combat role.
Vance added that US troops will not be deployed on the ground in Palestinian territory.
“That’s everything from ensuring that the Israeli troops are at the agreed-upon line, ensuring that Hamas is not attacking innocent Israelis, doing everything that they can to ensure the peace that we’ve created, actually sustains and endures,” Vance said on ABC.
“But the idea that we’re going to have troops on the ground in Gaza, in Israel, that that is not our intention, that is not our plan.”
Release of Palestinian Prisoners
Meanwhile, Hamas insists that the list of prisoners Israel is set to release under a Gaza ceasefire deal includes seven senior Palestinian leaders, sources close to negotiators told AFP Sunday.
“Hamas insists that the final list include seven senior leaders, most notably Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas Al-Sayyed,” a source said. The detail was confirmed by a second source.
The first source also said that Hamas and its allied groups had “completed all preparations” for handing over to Israel all the living hostages and some of the deceased ones held in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the prime minister said Sunday that Israel will begin releasing Palestinian prisoners once it has confirmation that all hostages held in Gaza have arrived in the country.
“Palestinian prisoners will be released once Israel has confirmation that all of our hostages set to be released tomorrow are across the border into Israel,” Shosh Bedrosian told journalists.
Bedrosian said that pending the identification, the Palestinian prisoners would be on buses ready to depart.
“As soon as we have confirmation that they (hostages) have entered Israeli territory, those buses will depart and begin their journey,” she said.
She said the release of all hostages held in the Gaza Strip for more than two years was expected to begin early Monday morning.
Israel and Hamas have approved the first phase of a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump, aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Under the terms of the plan, Hamas is to release by Monday noon the remaining 47 hostages (living and dead) who were abducted on October 7.
As for the Palestinian prisoners to be released, 250 are security detainees, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli military in Gaza after the war broke out.
