59 fate hostages, 2 million Palestinians are pending as the first phase of the ceasefire approaches

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday three of the four hostages The body was returned by Hamas Early morning A fragile ceasefire During his imprisonment in Gaza, the agreement was murdered. The news comes amid uncertainty deep in the future of the ceasefire agreement, two days before the end of the first six-week phase of the agreement, and there is no clear commitment from Israel to begin the second phase of negotiations.

Hamas handed over the body on Thursday was the last of 33 people returning to Israel during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Israel released about 600 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday. Released detainees, some of whom were sentenced to long sentences during the Gaza War, while others were detained detainees dumped from buses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to reunite with their loved ones.

According to the Israeli government, 59 Israeli hostages were still held in Gaza as of Thursday, with only 24 of them considered alive. Their fate depends on the future of the ceasefire agreement negotiated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

The plan is to see all remaining hostages return in the second phase of the deal in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, where Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza. But Netanyahu's cabinet members were under great pressure to leave the truce and resume Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza, which has long been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the EU.

Netanyahu said over a year the target of the Gaza war – the Hamas Ministry of Health in the Palestinian Territory – said the country had killed more than 48,000 people, most of them civilians – at least to eliminate Hamas. This is an unachievable goal of Israel's devastating military attack.

Israeli Prime Minister is under tremendous pressure, but the families of the hostages are keeping the ceasefire alive so that their loved ones can be brought home. President Trump has made it clear that he will support Israel, no matter what Netanyahu decides to do, but his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff is expected to return to the region soon to push for the second phase.

“We’re going to be in phase 2 or phase 2, and I’m very focused on that, and I think that’s going to happen.” Say Sunday On CBS News, “Facing the Country with Margaret Brennan”.

Witkov said ensuring the release of the previous U.S. nationals was considered one of the surviving hostages, Edan AlexanderDuring the terrorist attack on October 7, he served with the IDF when the IDF was kidnapped and he was “for us at the forefront and center”.

“I've been talking about his parents all the time. He's critical. It's one of President Trump's most important goals is to get all Americans home and we believe we will be successful in coming home.”

Entering the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, and the terms of negotiations for this are also crucial to the approximately 2 million Palestinian residents in Gaza, who have been forced to flee their homes for the 15-month war. Many people return to find their own cities and towns, and Mr. Trump's advice is forced to leave the enclave – There may not be any right to return – Thus, it can become a new luxury real estate development, exacerbating anxiety across the region.

Critics condemned the idea as Mr. Trump suggests that displaced Palestinians should be accepted, with regional American allies Egypt and Jordan firmly rejecting the idea and hope to come up with other Arab countries. Alternative proposals for redeveloping Gaza.

Widow told Brennan that despite the extent of damage in Gaza and the risks posed by unexplored regulations, “it shows that no one can really live in a safe environment in a safe environment for at least 15 years…I’m not sure someone has a problem with people and people have people’s return. We had these discussions during this time. I just thought about our basic questions.

But it was clear that Mr. Trump's envoy was “cannot allow return to the government” in Gaza, and he said the organization that operated Gaza for nearly 20 years had “must go. They must leave.”

He could not say where the remaining members of the group should be sent, or who or what should be brought in as the governing body on the territory.

“I think the devil is in the details, we've had a lot of discussions. Today I'm not free, today there are some specific discussions, but we have some ideas and that's going to be part of the negotiations.”

Hamas said that after the first phase of exchange on Thursday, it was “prepared to” negotiate the terms of the second phase. The Israeli government's preparations are not clear.

According to reports from Israeli media, Netanyahu will hold a cabinet meeting on Thursday to decide whether to even send the negotiation team back to Cairo or Doha for the second phase of negotiations.

As Saturday approaches the end of phase one, there are 59 Israelis, about 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, and millions throughout the Middle East will hope to continue diplomacy rather than resume war.