Trump called on Hamas terrorists to “move quickly” toward the release of hostages, warning the deal would otherwise be off the table.By JNSIsrael expects the release of the 48 hostages held by Hamas as early as next week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday evening.Israel hopes that “already during the Sukkot holiday, we can announce the return of all the hostages, with the IDF remaining in the depths of the Gaza Strip in various areas,” Netanyahu said in a televised address, speaking in the wake of Hamas’s response to the U.S. peace plan.Sukkot, or the “Feast of Tabernacles,” is a weeklong Jewish holiday that this year runs from sunset on Monday, Oct. 6, to nightfall on Monday, Oct. 13 (Oct. 14 outside of Israel).(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“I instructed our negotiation team, headed by [Strategic Affairs Minister] Ron Dermer, to finalize the technical details of the hostage release,” said the prime minister. “Our intention, as well that of as of our American friends, is to limit this to a few days.”Noting that his government already freed 207 of the captives abducted by the terrorists, Netanyahu said the diplomatic and military pressure, primarily through the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign in Gaza City, “flipped the script” on Hamas.“Rather than Israel being isolated, Hamas is isolated. Following intense pressure on Hamas, they were forced to accept this deal,” he said.“I have never forsaken the remaining hostages, and I have never given up on achieving the remaining war objectives,” Netanyahu stated, hailing the latest development as a “historic” achievement.During the first phase, IDF soldiers will continue to hold the areas that they captured during the almost 24-month-long war in Gaza, he said.“During the second phase, Hamas will be disarmed and Hamas will be demilitarized, this will happen either diplomatically, through Trump’s plan, or through military action,” Netanyahu added.“From Gaza to Rafah, from Beirut to Damascus, together, we achieved significant achievements,” the premier concluded his remarks, as he addressed members of the Jewish state’s security forces.(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem announced overnight Friday that Jerusalem was preparing to carry out the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war against Hamas in Gaza, which includes “the immediate release of all hostages.”“We will continue to work in full cooperation with the U.S. president and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set forth by Israel, which are consistent with President Trump’s vision,” the PMO stated.The decision followed Hamas’s response to the American proposal. The terrorist group said it “appreciates the Arab, Islamic and international efforts” behind the peace plan Washington unveiled on Sept. 29.Hamas said it accepts parts of the plan, including the release of all 48 remaining hostages—20 of whom are believed to be alive—under the formula, “provided the field conditions for the exchange are met,” as part of ending the war sparked by its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.Trump expressed appreciation for the Israeli decision to “temporarily” halt aerial operations “in order to give the hostage-release and peace deal a chance to be completed,” in a Truth Social post on Saturday.The president called on Hamas terrorists to “move quickly” toward the release of hostages, warning the deal would otherwise be off the table.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose Religious Zionism Party holds seven seats in Netanyahu’s coalition, slammed the prime minister’s decision to go on the defensive as a “grave error.”Scaling down the fighting will allow Hamas “to stall and steadily weaken Israel’s bargaining position, both on securing the immediate release of the hostages in one 72-hour operation and on the war’s primary goal of eliminating Hamas and fully demilitarizing Gaza,” Smotrich said.Sources around National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the coalition’s fiercest critic of Trump’s proposal, said his Otzma Yehudit Party could not support any deal that leaves Hamas standing in Gaza.Ben-Gvir, who was reportedly summoned to the Prime Minister’s Office alongside Smotrich after Shabbat, informed Netanyahu that he would not quit the government at this stage, the sources told reporters.“The current proposal calls for the release of all hostages, something that has never happened before,” they said.“He will tell the prime minister in the meeting: If Hamas continues to exist, officially or under another guise, that is a red line and we will not remain part of the government.”Meanwhile, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Avi Dichter, a member of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, tweeted on Saturday night that the “immediate demand, which echoes President Trump’s statements, should be the return of all 20 surviving hostages within 72 hours as the first step that will determine the implementation of the next phases.“Hamas has started deceptive moves, demanding that the IDF pull back so it can reach the dead hostages in the area where Israeli forces are deployed,” Dichter said.“The living hostages are not in territory currently under IDF control. Without that, there is nothing to advance in the agreement, and fighting should continue at full strength.”A White House official told U.S. news site Axios on Saturday that Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Egypt to finalize technical details “and discuss the lasting peace deal.”Trump told Axios on Saturday that “we are close” to a deal with Hamas and said he would push to finalize it in the next few days.“I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” Trump said. “He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.”Forty-seven of the 48 hostages, living and dead, held by terrorist in the Gaza Strip, were taken 728 days ago, on Oct. 7, 2023. The body of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin was taken to Gaza by terrorists on Aug. 1, 2014.The post Netanyahu: Hamas could free hostages as early as next week appeared first on World Israel News.