Under the first phase of the plan, hostages held by Hamas would be released in exchange for a limited withdrawal by the Israeli military.

However, experts warned, locating all the hostages, and managing an Israeli withdrawal, could be complicated.

A Hamas source said that the living hostages would be handed over within 72 hours of the Israeli government approving the deal, Reuters reports.

Hamas officials have insisted it will take longer to recover the bodies of dead hostages -– believed to number about 28 –– from Gaza’s rubble.