Ceasefire delayed as Netanyahu demands hostage list from Hamas

Just minutes after announcing that a ceasefire deal with Hamas was delayed, Israel said it had continued striking targets in Gaza.

The strikes by artillery and aircraft were carried out in northern and central Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

“The IDF remains ready in defense and offense and will not allow any harm to the citizens of Israel,” it said.

TEL AVIV — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was delayed from going into effect this morning in the Gaza Strip after Israeli officials said Hamas had yet to provide a list of names of the hostages it planned to release under the truce deal agreed days ago.

The ceasefire deal was expected to take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET). But Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an on-camera statement around that time that under the directive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ceasefire would not take effect “as long as Hamas fails to fulfill its commitments.”

“The IDF continues its operations inside the Gaza area at this moment, as long as Hamas does not adhere to the agreement and with all that it entails,” he said.

Earlier, it had warned that the ceasefire would not begin until Israel had the list of the first hostages to be freed. Hamas said in a statement early Sunday morning that it was still committed to the truce and said the delay was due to “technical reasons in the field.” It did not expand further.

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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed the nation's armed forces that the 8:30 a.m. Sunday local time (1:30 a.m. ET) start of the ceasefire will not begin as scheduled until Israel gets a list of hostages to be freed under the deal with Hamas militants.

After a "security situation assessment" focused on the delay by Hamas to provide a list of hostages, Netanyahu ordered Israel Defense Forces to forgo the ceasefire for the time being, according to a statement from the prime minister's office released the morning the plan was to go into effect.

"The Prime Minister instructed the IDF that the ceasefire, which is supposed to go into effect at 8:30, will not begin until Israel has the list of freed hostages, which Hamas has pledged to provide," the office said.

On Sunday, Hamas blamed the delay on "technical reasons in the field," and reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire. It would come more than two years after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel and the latter's response in the form of all-out war on the militant group in neighboring Gaza.

The long-awaited ceasefire, desired by the administration of President Joe Biden as he bids farewell to the White House this weekend, was approved by the Israeli government just after midnight on Saturday.

Two Israeli Americans are among the 33 Israeli hostages who were scheduled to be released from Gaza on Sunday as part of the ceasefire agreement.

As the first phase of the ceasefire deal approaches, Israel and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are preparing to receive hostages from Gaza and Palestinians who were detained by Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces have set up several locations equipped with medical supplies and other support to receive the hostages who have been in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

"Following this, the released hostages will continue on to hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families," the IDF said in a statement today.

The ICRC is preparing for "a significant operation" involving the release of Israeli hostages, Palestinian detainees and the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the statement read.

"The preparation for such operations involves everything from the logistics of transportation, increased personnel and distribution of supplies, as well as preparing colleagues who are receiving those released," the statement read.

While it said the ceasefire agreement "marks a new beginning," the group emphasized that "immense humanitarian needs will continue to exist after this operation."

A majority of Israelis support continuing the second phase of the ceasefire deal, even if it means halting the fighting in Gaza, a recent Kan News poll shows.

Of the respondents, 55% believe the second phase, which is expected to involve returning all living hostages, should proceed even if the fighting stops in Gaza.

Additionally, 62% of the public backs the overall deal for hostages’ release based on the details published so far.

However, opinions differ among coalition voters, with 46% favoring the resumption of fighting, even at the expense of returning all abductees.

The poll also shows a mixed outlook on the implementation of the second phase, with 40% perceiving a medium chance it will proceed, while 23% are less optimistic.

When asked who was responsible for the fact that the deal was signed more than 450 days after the Oct. 7 attack, 36% saw Hamas as the main culprit. In contrast, 25% thought Israel was responsible, and 22% said both sides were equally responsible.

Trucks filled with humanitarian aid were lined up on Egypt's side of the Rafah border crossing today, preparing to enter Gaza once the ceasefire takes effect tomorrow morning, according to the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Pictures posted to the nonprofit's Facebook showed dozens of aid workers at the border preparing the supplies for entry into the enclave.

President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is considering a visit to the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of his efforts to keep a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on track, according to a transition official with direct knowledge of the ceasefire process.

Underscoring just how fragile the president-elect’s team believes the ceasefire deal that’s set to go into effect on Sunday is, Witkoff also plans to be a near-constant presence in the region over the coming weeks and months to troubleshoot flare-ups on the ground that he believes could unravel the agreement and halt the release of hostages held by Hamas at any moment, the official said.

“You have to be right on top of it, ready to snuff out a problem if it happens,” the official said.

At the same time, Witkoff is working to achieve long-term stability for the Israelis and 2 million displaced Palestinians, the path to which runs through the three phases of the deal reached this past week.

The first phase, which begins on Sunday, is set to last about six weeks and involves the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians held by Israel. The second phase would be negotiated during the first and is supposed to result in the release of additional hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The goal of the final phase, which also still needs to be negotiated, is to end the war and begin rebuilding Gaza.

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For a family in Gaza, celebrations over a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas were halted when an Israeli airstrike killed a couple and two of their sons. 

The parents were sleeping in a tent with their three children in the al-Mawasi area, near the southern city of Khan Younis, at the time of the airstrike.

Just days earlier, the family had been celebrating the announcement of a ceasefire agreement. Now, that hope for peace has turned into mourning.

“How can we celebrate a ceasefire when we’ve lost an entire family?” a relative said.

Crowds gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square today as Israel prepared for the ceasefire to begin in just hours.

Edry Shimon, who has traveled from Ashdod in southern Israel to Hostages Square every Saturday since Oct. 7, 2023, to raise an Israeli flag in support of hostages' release, expressed mixed feelings about the truce.

“I want the ceasefire, yes, but the deal with Hamas is not good,” he said, adding that he did not want Israel to negotiate with the militant group. When asked if he wanted fighting to stop in Gaza, he replied that he wasn’t thinking about that aspect of the 15-month war. “They don’t think about me and the people of Israel,” he said.

Moran Garama, 40, whose son Liam played on a piano nearby, said she and her family had come to Hostages Square after hearing the ceasefire news. While she said was relieved that the hostages would be released, she also expressed reluctance about a ceasefire.

“We are scared here in Israel,” she said.

Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square tonight, hours ahead of the ceasefire deal expected to go into effect tomorrow morning.

The attendees held up pictures of Israeli hostages believed to be held in Gaza by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for international support partners to acheive lasting peace during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron today, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Abbas expressed gratitude for France’s support in international forums and reiterated the need for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces, allowing the Palestinian Authority to assume full responsibilities in the area, according to the report.

The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007 after ousting the Palestinian Authority from power.

Abbas also stressed the importance of international recognition for Palestine, its full membership to the United Nations and the implementation of the two-state solution.

Crowds gathered at a roundabout in Homs last night, waving Palestinian flags and chanting calls to bomb Tel Aviv.

In a video verified by NBC News and posted on Jan. 17, social media users captioned it as showing support for Gaza on the streets of Homs following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement.

Otzma Yehudit, a far-right Israeli political party, said its members will submit letters of resignation tomorrow morning in protest of the ceasefire deal.

The political party believes the deal is "reckless" and "constitutes surrender to Hamas."

Otzma Yehudit members include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Heritage Amihai Ben-Eliyahu.

Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces will remain deployed inside and around Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement.

Netanyahu said troop deployment will be increased to secure the entire Philadelphi Corridor, which spans the border between Gaza and Egypt.

"We promised in the agreement that Israel would maintain full control of the Philadelphi axis and the security buffer that surrounds the entire Gaza Strip," he said. "Our forces will be deployed inside the Strip and will close it off from all sides."

The prime minister also said that detainees suspected of murder, who are set to be released as part of the deal, will not be brought back to the West Bank but will instead be deported to Gaza or abroad.

During his remarks tonight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went all in on Trump, extending his thanks to the president-elect for lifting all remaining restrictions to America's ammunition supply to Israel.

Trump will take office on Monday and has reportedly said he will lift all military sanctions on Day 1. NBC News has not independently confirmed this.

America's arms transfers to Israel have been criticized by many as the situation in Gaza has grown increasingly dire. Israel has killed more than 46,000 people in the enclave in the 15 months since it launched its war on Hamas after the group killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.

The southern Gaza city of Rafah is set to implement a gradual plan to reopen the city’s streets after the IDF withdraws its forces as part of the ceasefire, according to Dr. Ahmed Al-Sufi, head of the municipality. 

The plan includes clearing rubble, rehabilitating roads, and ensuring safe traffic, he said, according to the municipality's Facebook page. 

Rafah was left uninhabitable by the Israeli assault, its buildings crumbled and blackened. There were no civilians to be seen when the IDF invited NBC News to Gaza's southernmost city in September.

Al-Sufi urged citizens to be patient and not rush back to areas while emergency teams clear mines and hazards, promising efforts to ensure a return to normalcy.

He praised the resilience of Rafah’s residents, who endured eight months of forced displacement, calling their patience “a source of inspiration and pride.” 

Dozens of trucks filled with humanitarian aid were also lined up on Egypt’s side of the Rafah border crossing, ready to enter Gaza after the ceasefire deal comes into effect, according to Al Qahera News.

In his remarks tonight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that the ceasefire deal is temporary and that Israel will resume fighting if it needs to.

"If we need to resume fighting, we will do so in new ways and we will do so with tremendous force," Netanyahu said. "We maintain our right to resume the war if necessary with the backing of the U.S."

Netanyahu said both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump "have given full backing to Israel's right to return to combat."

Humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders said that while the incoming ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is a relief, it is "more than 465 days and 46,000 lives too late."

"The Israeli government, Hamas, and world leaders have tragically failed the people of Gaza, by not agreeing [to] and imposing a sustained ceasefire sooner," the organization said in a statement issued today. "The relief that this ceasefire brings is far from enough for people to rebuild their lives, reclaim their dignity and to mourn for those killed and all that’s been lost."

The group said the ceasefire "is only the beginning in addressing the immense humanitarian, psychological, and medical needs in Gaza," emphasizing that Israel must end its blockade of the strip to ensure aid can reach Palestinians in need.

"The toll of this hideous war includes the obliteration of homes, hospitals, and infrastructure; the displacement of millions of people that are now in desperate need of water, food, and shelter in the cold winter," the group said.

Israel said it will not move forward with the ceasefire agreement, scheduled to take effect tomorrow, until it receives a list of the hostages Hamas plans to release, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office posted on X today.

"Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement," the statement read. "The sole responsibility lies with Hamas."

Police are investigating reports of a drive-by shooting in Tel Aviv, a police spokesperson said today, with people injured at the scene.

"The circumstances are currently unknown and the suspicion is being investigated," the spokesperson said.

A man was injured in a stabbing at Mikveh Israel Street in Tel Aviv, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's national ambulance service.

The 30-year-old man is in "moderate condition" and receiving medical treatment, according to the ambulance service.

No details were provided about the suspect, who has been "neutralized," according to Magen David Adom.

Hamas said in a statement that the attacker killed one person and injured two others. NBC News has reached out to the MDA for clarification on the discrepancy.

Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, described the dire situation in Gaza.

"In every direction you look in the Gaza Strip there’s destruction," she said in a video posted to X. "It looks like a graveyard. Society is gone. Cities are completely destroyed."

Wateridge added that even on the cusp of a ceasefire, the lingering devastation after "15 months of brutal war" is palpable.

"With this silence of the gunfire, there will be a lot of heaviness in people finally being able to mourn their loved ones," Wateridge said. "Maybe find family members that have been buried under the rubble and trying to have some kind of life be put back together after this awful devastation."

A second missile launched toward Israel from Yemen has been intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, according to the IDF, after sirens sounded in the areas of Eilat and Arava.

The Houthis said earlier today that they had carried out a “significant military operation” aimed at the Israeli Ministry of Defense using a “Zulfiqar” ballistic missile that they claim “accurately hit its target.”

People in Tel Aviv were seen running across the street for cover after the earlier launch, as a rare burst of sirens rang out across central Israel.

Hamas has outlined the process by which Israeli hostages will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners under the upcoming ceasefire agreement.

According to its prisoners’ media office, the releases will be tied to the number and categories of hostages being exchanged and will take place throughout the first stage of the deal.

The office also indicated that lists of individuals set for release would be issued before each exchange day, following procedures agreed upon as part of the ceasefire terms.

Houthi rebels have promised to counter "any violations or military escalation" by Israel during the ceasefire period, reaffirming their commitment to stand with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza after launching a rocket toward Israel.

The Yemeni group said it had carried out a "significant military operation" aimed at the Israeli Ministry of Defense using a "Zulfiqar" ballistic missile that it claims "accurately hit its target."

Earlier today, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces said, after sirens sounded across central Israel.

There have been no reports of rocket impacts or injuries, said Israel’s emergency services, Magen David Adom, after red-alert sirens sounded in areas across central Israel.

Noa Argamani, who was held captive by Hamas for 245 days before being rescued by the Israel Defense Forces in June, delivered an emotional address last Thursday at the Nova Music Festival exhibition in Miami.

Speaking candidly about her months in captivity and the anguish of separation from her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who remains a hostage in Gaza, Argamani called for urgent action to bring all of the hostages home.

"I know that Avinatan is still there, and my heart breaks to think that he will continue to be there until the second stage of this deal," she said. "This is why it is absolutely critical that we put an end to this horrible tragedy and bring all the hostages home."

Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, stressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday the urgency of an Israeli military withdrawal as stipulated by a ceasefire deal that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in November.

According to a statement by the Lebanese presidency on X, Aoun told Guterres during a meeting in Beirut that continued Israeli breaches were a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the agreed ceasefire deal.

The ceasefire, which took effect on Nov. 27 and was brokered by the United States and France, requires Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days and for Hezbollah to remove all its fighters and weapons from the south.

Guterres said the U.N. would exert utmost efforts to secure an Israeli withdrawal within the set deadline under the ceasefire terms, according to the statement.

Daniel Lifshitz is anxiously waiting to learn whether his 84-year-old grandfather, Oded Lifshitz, will come back dead or alive as part of the first group of 33 hostages expected to be released by Hamas under the ceasefire agreement.

Oded was abducted during the Oct. 7 attack on his kibbutz, where he was injured while clinging to the door of a safe room as militants forced their way inside.

His wife, Yocheved, was dragged out and thrown onto a motorbike, and her last memory of Oded was seeing him unconscious and bleeding in the backyard. “At that time, she thought he was dead,” Daniel explains.

Yocheved was released 16 days after the attack, but it was another hostage who gave the family hope by saying she had spent time in captivity with Oded. Since then, however, all has gone quiet, and the uncertainty has taken a heavy toll. “We don’t know anything about his conditions,” Daniel told NBC News. “On one hand, maybe we should prepare a funeral and on the other hand, a party.”

Despite their anguish, the family has lovingly tended to Oded’s cherished cactus garden, which he cultivated for 64 years. “The garden is amazing and really prepared for him,” Daniel said. “This is the symbol of the family.”

While he waits, Daniel reflects on his grandfather’s selflessness: “If you ask my grandfather, he will tell you: ‘You released me last. I lived my life. All those kids, all those soldiers, all the young ones that have been kidnapped — please release them before.’”

Three female Israeli hostages are set to be released on Sunday as part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire in Gaza is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), but it remains unclear exactly what time the hostages will be handed over.

Hamas said earlier that the names of the hostages to be released will be published before each exchange day in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire.

The families of Israeli hostages should demand that Israel ceases its bombardment of Gaza, a Palestinian militant spokesperson said today, as it is "causing the deaths of your sons" ahead of their release as part of the ceasefire agreement.

"The intensity of the Zionist bombing is taking us towards two paths," said Abu Hamza, a spokesperson with al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a separate militant group from Hamas that also holds Israeli hostages.

"The first of which is that the families of the Zionist prisoners receive their sons in coffins — or [second] in their homes, and the choice of the last hours is in the hands of the Zionist army alone."

The Israeli government’s approval of a ceasefire has brought relief to hostage families hoping to see their loved ones emerge from Gaza in the coming weeks.

Efrat Machikawa, whose uncle Gadi Moses, 80, is on the list of the first 33 hostages to be released under the truce, said she had expected the deal to gain the overall support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet, despite the vocal opposition of some members, including far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“I was sure the noisy ones would be noisy,” Machikawa, 56, said in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday, branding those opposed to the deal as “extremists.” A total of 24 Cabinet members voted in favor of the ceasefire, with eight voting against and one abstaining.

“I want to say shame on them, those eight that voted against and the one who refrained from voting at all,” she said.

Machikawa was filled with both joy and fear ahead of the release of her uncle — her family have received no updates on his condition for more than a year, she said.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 46,899, according to local health officials, as Israeli strikes continue ahead of the start of the ceasefire tomorrow morning.

The Palestinian Ministry of Interior and National security has congratulated the Palestinian people on the ceasefire, which it says stops “the war of extermination” in Gaza.

“We pray for the souls of tens of thousands of our people who were martyred in this brutal war,” it said, accusing Israel of “various crimes that are shameful to humanity.”

It added that ministry agencies will “begin to deploy in all governorates of the Gaza Strip” after the ceasefire has begun, after Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that PA was ready to assume its “full responsibilities” in post-war Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007, when it ousted the Palestinian Authority from power.

The Israeli Defense Force says it is preparing to “implement the agreement for the return of the hostages” ahead of the ceasefire agreement that is set to begin tomorrow morning.

They are "operating to provide suitable physical and psychological support," for the returning hostages, the IDF said.

It also confirmed that the ceasefire agreement will take effect on Sunday, January 19 at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), as stated earlier by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, has congratulated the Palestinian people on the upcoming ceasefire.

“The significant sacrifices they have made and their legendary steadfastness are indicators of this people’s worthiness and their struggle to reclaim their land,” he said in a statement. “The people emerged dignified, and the resistance proudly carried its weapon.”

Qassem added that “the Israelis were unable to obtain what they desired.”

“This agreement has not changed from what was proposed in May 2024, which indicates the resistance’s stability and that it has achieved what it wanted,” he said.

Tel Aviv’s promenade along the Mediterranean was packed with people this morning as some residents celebrated the news of a ceasefire deal expected to bring 15 months of fighting in Gaza to a halt and to see hostages who remain in the enclave released.

One couple, David and Judy, who came to Tel Aviv for the day from southern Israel, said they felt “cautiously optimistic” that the ceasefire deal would hold. “Maybe we’re on the way to having some kind of end to this,” David, 62, who said he worked for a defense company, said. The couple declined to share their last name.

“There’s no winner,” he said, noting that it had been a stressful year, with his son enlisted as a military reservist. “We lost from day one.”

Much of life in Tel Aviv has for months appeared to be largely back to normal, with the city’s promenade packed with people and some fishing and surfing in the sea. But that reality was briefly broken by the sound of sirens blaring, sending people racing for cover and abandoning their cars in the streets, with the Israeli military attributing the alarms to a projectile that was launched from Yemen and intercepted.

Meanwhile, military aircraft could be seen flying toward and away from the direction of Gaza in the hours ahead of the ceasefire deal coming into effect tomorrow, with first responders in Gaza reporting a string of deadly strikes this week in the hours after the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 122 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, since the ceasefire agreement was announced last week, Gaza’s Civil Defense said this morning.

Over 270 people have also been injured by strikes, said spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.

The al-Qadra family was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis less than 24 hours before a ceasefire is set to begin in Gaza.

The long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday, according to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry. 

“We advise the inhabitants to take precaution, exercise the utmost caution, and wait for directions from official sources,” Majed Al-Ansari, Qatari Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X.

Qatar is among the nations that have helped to mediate the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice has published a list of Palestinian prisoners set to be released during several phases of the ceasefire, which is due to begin Sunday morning.

737 Palestinians held by the Israel Prison Service are set to be released, and 1,167 Palestinians who were detained from Gaza during the war but did not participate in the Oct. 7 attacks, will also be let go. 

In a statement, Israel's Ministry of Justice notes that the release of prisoners in the first wave will not be carried out before Sunday at 4:00 p.m. local time.

A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces said, after sirens sounded across central Israel.

There have been no reports of rocket impacts or injuries, says Israel's emergency services, Magen David Adom, after red alert sirens sounded in areas across central Israel.

It notes a few cases of people "who fell while heading to protected areas."

A rare burst of sirens rang out in Tel Aviv and across Israel just now.

In central Israel, explosions could be heard. People in Tel Aviv were seen running across the street for cover and cars came to a halt as the sirens blared.

Israel has a robust missile defense system known as the Iron Dome to intercept aerial attacks, with sirens also alerting residents to aerial strikes.

Early Saturday, Israel’s full Cabinet signed off on the ceasefire deal that is set to see the release of dozens of hostages and bring fighting in Gaza to an end for the first time in more than a year, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The ceasefire and release of hostages is set to begin Sunday.

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will go into effect too late for Akram Abu Ahmed to see his children again.

His family’s sole survivor after an Israeli airstrike, Ahmed was sleeping near Gaza City in the early hours on Thursday after celebrating news of the truce when he heard a loud sound and was thrown into the air.

“Dust and screams surrounded me,” he said, adding that his wife and three of his children were killed, including a daughter whom he said was a doctor.

“Is this what they aim for? Killing doctors?” he said. “This is the question I want you to answer, Netanyahu: Why did you kill my daughter?”

Read full story here.

If all goes as planned, the hostages in Gaza will get their long-awaited freedom at three kibbutzim in Israel that are close to the border of the Palestinian territory, the Israel Defense Forces announced.

“Reception points” have been established at Kerem Shalom, which is also near the Egyptian border; at Re’im, about 30 miles northeast of there; and at Erez, north of the Gaza border.

“At these reception points, the Israeli hostages will be met with IDF representatives, including liaison and welfare officers, as well as doctors, psychologists, and mental health specialists,” the IDF said.

From there, the newly freed hostages will be taken, either by helicopter or vehicle, to Israeli hospitals that have already been prepared to treat them.

“The purpose of the forward reception points is to create a gradual transition and provide initial care by professionals before the hostages are reunited with their families at the hospital,” the IDF said.

In 2023, Hamas transferred a group of 24 hostages from Gaza to Israel via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

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