Witkoff and Cooper later returned to Israel, where Witkoff—along with Jared Kushner, former senior adviser and Trump’s son-in-law—is expected to visit Hostages Square in Tel Aviv Saturday evening.
IDF forces are preparing for the cease-fire
(Video: Gilad Cohen, IDF)
At the end of the Gaza tour, Cooper said he reviewed progress on setting up the U.S. Civil-Military Coordination Center, which will synchronize American efforts to stabilize the region after the war. About 200 U.S. troops specializing in logistics, planning and security have been deployed to the region for the task, though Cooper emphasized they would not enter Gaza. The U.S. military is still seeking a base in Israel to host the headquarters.
Under the Trump-brokered cease-fire deal, Hamas must release all remaining hostages by Monday at noon. However, Israeli officials said Saturday morning that the releases could begin as soon as Sunday.
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U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff with IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir
(Photo: Fox News)
“Israel is preparing for the possibility that the releases will begin tomorrow,” one official said. “We see signs that Hamas is readying to move up the timetable as a gesture to Trump.”
When asked what convinced Hamas that Israel would not resume fighting afterward, Trump replied: “I spoke a little bit tough — and that’s what would happen. You have to speak tough. They’re very tough people and smart people, good negotiators. But they knew the retribution would be tremendous, unsustainable — it would have been complete obliteration, and they didn’t want that.”
He added, “I think the cease-fire will hold. They’re all tired of fighting. Don’t forget, you had October 7, which was a horrible day, but Hamas has lost 58,000 people. That’s big retribution. This is beyond Gaza — this is peace in the Middle East, and it is a beautiful thing.”
Addressing the postwar phase, Trump said he envisions a sweeping regional shift: “Hopefully you’re going to have great success — everlasting success. Gaza is going to be rebuilt. You have some very wealthy countries over there, and it would take a small fraction of their wealth to do it. I think they want to.”
Trump also confirmed plans to visit Israel and deliver an address to the Knesset, followed by a stop in Cairo before returning to Washington on Tuesday. “It’s a great deal for Israel,” he said, “but it’s a great deal for everybody — for Arabs, for Muslims, for the world.”
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported Friday that it had obtained the full text of Trump’s cease-fire implementation plan. According to the outlet, Hamas is required to release all living hostages and the bodies of those killed between Sunday and Monday at 6 a.m., with the handover to occur “without celebrations or media coverage.”
Because the Israeli government’s approval of the deal was delayed by several hours, the final deadline was extended to Monday at noon.
Israeli officials had expected Hamas to wait until Monday to carry out the releases, but preparations began as soon as the IDF withdrawal was completed and the 72-hour window opened.
“It could happen on any day from now until Monday,” a senior Israeli source said. “Hamas must complete the releases within 72 hours, by noon Monday. We’re fully prepared for an early release, but we don’t yet have confirmation.”
The official added that Israel demanded Hamas release all 20 remaining living hostages in a single phase. “We’re ready if they choose to do it in several rounds,” he said, “but it must all be completed within 72 hours.”