U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at a press conference in Washington, DC, USA, October 1, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Donald Trump plans to greet Israeli hostages freed from Gaza by the terrorist group Hamas “in person,” Vice President J.D. Vance said Sunday.
President Trump is scheduled to fly to Israel on Sunday afternoon.
Vance confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that Hamas announced it was holding 20 live hostages.
Vance said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the hostages would be released “any minute now.”
“I plan to greet the hostages Monday morning Middle Eastern time, but here in the United States it will be Sunday night or early Monday morning,” Trump said.
The hostage release plan comes days after the Israeli government approved the first phase of a peace agreement with Hamas.
Hamas took around 250 people hostage in an attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, sparking a two-year war that has devastated the Palestinian territory.
Vance said the hostages’ release was “monumental.”
“Of course it’s great for their families,” he said. “But I really think this shows what happens when you step outside of the traditional failed diplomatic channels and actually try something new.”
Vance said in a separate appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he did not expect Israel to be able to retrieve the bodies of the hostages from Hamas.
“I think we’ll eventually get most of the bodies, but we won’t get all of them,” Vance said.
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