Starved, tortured and made to dig their own graves by Hamas..737 days in HELL
This screengrab from a video released on August 1, 2025 by the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas, shows Israeli hostage Evyatar David looking weak and malnourished
Israel expects all remaining living hostages to be released by Hamas within hours — marking the end of 737 harrowing days of captivity that included reports of starvation, torture, and forced labor.
Officials believe all surviving hostages will be freed at the same time and handed over to the Red Cross in six to eight vehicles.
Shosh Bedrosian, spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, “Israel is ready. If any living hostage requires urgent medical attention, they will be taken to a medical facility immediately.”
In an address earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said the return of the hostages will begin “a new path of healing” for the nation.
Israel and Hamas remain engaged in last-minute talks over the simultaneous release of Palestinian detainees, including senior Hamas figures and Marwan Barghouti — a prominent Palestinian prisoner — as part of a U.S.-brokered peace deal to end the war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump, who played a central role in negotiating the ceasefire, is scheduled to arrive in Israel Monday morning. According to a White House itinerary, he will meet with hostage families and deliver remarks at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
Following his visit to Israel, President Trump will travel to Egypt, where he will co-chair a “peace summit” with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and regional leaders.
Bedrosian said that deceased hostages will be returned in Israeli-flag-draped coffins and taken to a forensic institute for identification. Ambulances and medical teams are on standby at Soroka and Barzilai hospitals in southern Israel to receive those returning alive.
“Israel is fully prepared to receive our hostages,” Bedrosian said. “Their release will begin early Monday morning. We expect all 20 living hostages to be freed together and transferred to the Red Cross. They will then be transported into Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza before being brought to the Re’im base in southern Israel for reunification with their families.”
In Dimona, the family of hostage Segev Kalfon packed a small bag with clothes, toiletries, and a prayer book as they prepared for his homecoming. Kalfon is among 20 hostages believed to be alive. Twenty-six others are presumed dead, with two still unaccounted for.
Among the other captives is Evyatar David, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival alongside his best friend Guy Gilboa-Dalal. Both 24-year-olds spent weeks bound and blindfolded, bleeding from untreated wounds. The last proof of life came in February when Hamas filmed them watching other hostages being freed before returning them to the tunnels. Hamas released further disturbing footage in August.
David’s mother, Galia, told the Daily Mail, “I want everyone in the world to see what Hamas terrorists have done.”
Testimonies from freed hostages have revealed shocking accounts of sexual violence, including rape, forced nudity, and daily humiliation — targeting both women and men. Israeli legal experts say Hamas used sexual assault as part of its “genocidal strategy” during and after the October 7, 2023, massacre.
On that day — the deadliest for the Jewish people since the Holocaust — Hamas militants stormed Israeli communities, committing mass murder, gang rape, and mutilations. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Some of the 250 hostages taken that day endured continued sexual violence in Gaza’s underground tunnels, where women were threatened with forced marriage and pregnancy by their captors.
Attorneys with the Dinah Project, an independent legal group operating from Bar-Ilan University’s Rackman Center, are working to bring those responsible for these atrocities to justice.
On Saturday, Israel’s hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch sent a message to families confirming preparations for the release to begin Monday. Hirsch said hospitals and the Re’im base are ready to receive survivors, while the deceased will be transferred to Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.
An international taskforce will also begin searching for the remains of hostages still missing after 72 hours.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the release of approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the peace agreement. The group includes 250 serving life sentences and around 1,700 detainees held without charge.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance told NBC’s Meet the Press that the hostages could be released “any moment now.”
“The president of the United States is planning to travel to the Middle East to greet the hostages Monday morning, Middle Eastern time,” Vance said. “He’s expected to leave the White House around 3:30 p.m. today and fly to Tel Aviv before heading to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for a summit to finalize the peace agreement.”
Humanitarian aid deliveries are also expected to increase as part of the ceasefire deal. Israel’s defense body overseeing Gaza relief, COGAT, said up to 600 trucks per day may now enter the Strip, while Egypt has already dispatched 400 trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies through the Rafah crossing.
Footage from the Egyptian side showed dozens of trucks preparing to cross after inspection by Israeli forces. The Egyptian Red Crescent confirmed that the convoy includes tents, blankets, medicine, and food.
As Israel awaits the return of its hostages, the nation — and the world — watch for what could be the first fragile steps toward peace after two years of war and unimaginable suffering.
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