Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, met with his American counterpart Pete Hegseth, the U.S. war secretary, on Monday in what the Israeli official called “a happy day for all of us.”
Katz’s office said that he thanked Hegseth for U.S. President Donald Trump’s “great assistance in the release of our hostages.”
“I pointed out to him that every time the United States and Israel act together, as in Iran and Gaza, we win,” Katz said.
The minister told Hegseth that the mission now is to “act with all our might to ensure the return of all the hostages’ bodies home” and to implement Trump’s plan to disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza “in order to remove threats from the State of Israel,” per an Israeli readout.
The Pentagon didn’t immediately provide a readout of the conversation, which occurred on the sidelines of meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump also addressed the Knesset during his quick trip to the Jewish state.
On Monday morning, Israel liberated all of the 20 living hostages from Gaza, two years after Hamas kidnapped them on Oct. 7.
Their return is part of the first phase of Trump’s plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is already in breach of its commitments under the deal. It released just four of the 28 bodies it holds. According to the first stage of the ceasefire deal, Hamas was to release all remaining 48 hostages, alive and deceased, on Monday.
“Hamas’s announcement today is a failure to meet commitments. Any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a blatant violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly,” Katz said.
Hegseth arrived in Israel as part of Trump’s entourage on Monday morning. The president was received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
