The father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen prepares for a long-awaited meeting: “We have started counting.”

As the 72-hour countdown begins Friday to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Yehuda Cohen prepares to meet his 21-year-old son, Nimrod.

Hamas captured Cohen’s son, an Israeli soldier, and held him hostage near the Gaza border October 7, 2023, When he was only 19 years old. Now, with Official approval of the first stage After the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the hostage release agreement, Cohen hopes to see his son again soon.

“We have started counting, the 72 hours,” Cohen said on Friday on CBS Mornings. “We are at three o’clock and we are waiting. Maybe it will take two more days, but we are waiting to determine the exact time and place to come and finally meet Nimrod.”

The Israeli army said: The ceasefire entered into force At noon local time as part of President Trump’s peace plan To end the war in Gaza. US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Friday that Israeli forces have completed their initial withdrawal from parts of Gaza under the first phase of the plan, beginning a countdown for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages.

An Israeli official told CBS News that Hamas will release all remaining hostages by Monday afternoon local time. Israeli officials say 48 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be alive.

Cohen said it was too early to celebrate, adding: “But the time for champagne will come.”

Cohen said that Israeli officials did not provide any information about his son’s condition after two years in captivity. Instead, families are briefed on the logistics of where the hostages will be taken, which hospitals will receive them, and who will be allowed to be near them in the first hours and days.

“We don’t know exactly what condition he will be in after two years,” Cohen said. “This is a big void. We want to get to that point and start the rehabilitation.”

Cohen said his wife, Vicki, will be the first to embrace their son. After that moment, there is no script, he said.

“It’s not something you rehearse. It’s not a play. It’s not a show. This is reality. And we’re waiting for that moment of reality. Of course, it’s going to be an intimate moment,” Cohen said.

When Cohen was asked about his son, he described him as an ordinary young man.

“The best thing about my son is that he is my son,” Cohen said. “He is a normal boy like any other boy. For me, he is as special as his brother and sister. We are a normal family. We are a warm and normal family, and we want to go back to being a warm and normal family.”

Cohen said he and his family have advocated for Nimrod’s release throughout Israel and abroad for two years. Cohen directed sharp criticism Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuHe described it as the “major obstacle” to securing the release of the hostages.

“Once President Trump attacked him and forced him to accept the 22-point plan, it was implemented,” Cohen said. Netanyahu was sabotaging deals along the way.”

But Netanyahu denied that there were any further plans to release the hostages, saying in a televised speech on Friday that the latest peace agreement was reached only after putting pressure on Hamas. “Anyone who claims that this hostage deal was always on the table is simply not telling the truth. Hamas never agreed to release all the hostages while we remained deep in the Strip. It only agreed when the sword was at its neck, and that sword is still there.”

Cohen accused Netanyahu of ignoring warnings before Hamas carried out its attack on October 7 and then exploiting the subsequent war to avoid responsibility. Even with his son’s imminent return, Cohen said Israelis must hold their leader accountable.

Cohen said: “People will ask now that your son is released, why are you dealing with Netanyahu? Well, because first of all, he is the person responsible, and secondly, if we do not want this thing to happen again, we, the Israeli nation, must do everything to get rid of this terrible man.”

Netanyahu repeatedly challenged his critics. Alleged March 2024 statements The majority of Israelis “support the action we are taking to destroy the remaining terrorist brigades affiliated with Hamas.”

As part of the deal outlined by Trump, Israel would release dozens of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages and allow immediate aid to be provided to Gaza, which He faced severe food shortages and fell into famine In some regions, according to the world’s leading authority on food crises.