U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the United States has formulated a plan to return all of the remaining hostages, The Washington Post reported.
President Donald Trump "now believes that everybody should come home at once, no piecemeal deals," Witkoff said during the meeting that was recorded and televised in Israel.
He told the families that prior cease-fire agreements required exchanges of some hostages for Hamas prisoners being held in Israeli jails.
"That doesn't work, and we've tried everything," Witkoff said about U.S. efforts to release hostages who were captured when the U.S.-designated terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad attacked Israeli civilians without provocation on Oct. 7, 2023.
The attackers killed about 1,200 Israelis and others, and kidnapped about 250 more.
An estimated 30 of the remaining 50 hostages likely are dead, and Witkoff said U.S. officials want half of the remaining 20 hostages released on the first day of a cease-fire, followed by the rest shortly thereafter.
Witkoff also said Hamas is ready to disarm and release hostages, but many of the families' representatives are concerned several of the living hostages would not be released if they are not among the first group to return to Israel.
Hamas denied it is willing to lay down its arms and said it only would do so upon recognition of a Palestinian state, the BBC reported.
Several officials in Arab states during the past week have called on Hamas to lay down its arms and end its control of Gaza.
Witkoff met with representatives of about 40 of the hostages' families for two hours after attending a protest in Hostage Square earlier Saturday.
The protest occurred after Hamas and Islamic Jihad earlier this week released video footage of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyator David, along with images of starving Palestinian children, according to a CNN report.
International pressure to end the war in Gaza has increased amid reports of Gazans being killed while seeking food at aid sites run by the U.S.-and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The United Nations says at least 1,373 Gazans have been killed while trying to get food and other humanitarian aid since the GHF began distributing meals in late May.
Hamas and others blame Israel for the deaths, but Israeli and GHF officials say Hamas is attacking aid workers and killing Gazans who seek aid that it cannot control.
Israel army chief warns of combat 'without rest' unless hostages are freed
Jerusalem (AFP) Aug 2, 2025 -
Israel's top general has warned that there will be no respite in fighting in Gaza if negotiations fail to quickly secure the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
"I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement.
"If not, the combat will continue without rest," he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday.
Footage released by the Israeli military showed Zamir meeting soldiers and officers in a command centre.
Of the 251 people who were kidnapped from Israel during Hamas's attack in October 2023, 49 remain in Gaza, 27 of them dead, according to the military.
Palestinian armed groups this week released two videos of hostages looking emaciated and weak.
Negotiations -- mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar -- to secure a ceasefire and their release broke down last month, and some in Israel have called for tougher military action.
This comes against the backdrop of growing pressure -- both internationally and domestically, including from many of the hostages' families -- to resume efforts to secure a ceasefire in the nearly 22-month conflict.
Aid agencies have meanwhile warned that Gaza's population is facing a catastrophic famine, triggered by Israeli restrictions on aid.
Zamir nonetheless rejected these allegations out of hand.
"The current campaign of false accusations of intentional starvation is a deliberate, timed, and deceitful attempt to accuse the IDF (military), a moral army, of war crimes," he said.
"The ones responsible for the killing and suffering of the residents in the Gaza Strip is Hamas."
Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
A total of 898 Israeli soldiers have also been killed since ground troops were sent into Gaza, according to the military.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,332 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
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