As a 72-hour countdown began Friday for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Yehuda Cohen is preparing for a reunion with his 21-year-old son, Nimrod.

Cohen's son, an Israeli soldier, was captured by Hamas and taken hostage near the Gaza border on Oct. 7, 2023, when he was just 19 years old. Now, with the formal approval of the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal, Cohen is hopeful he'll see his son again soon.

"We started the count, the 72 hours, we are on the third hour and we are waiting, probably will take another two days but we're waiting for getting the exact time and where to come and meet Nimrod finally," Cohen said Friday on "CBS Mornings."

The Israeli military said a ceasefire went into effect at noon local time as part of President Trump's peace plan to end the war in Gaza. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Friday that Israeli troops had finished their initial withdrawal from parts of Gaza under the first phase of the plan, starting the countdown for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages.

An Israeli official told CBS News that Hamas would release all of the remaining hostages by noon local time Monday. Israeli officials say 48 hostages are still in Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be alive.

It's too early to celebrate, said Cohen, adding: "But the champagne time will come."

Cohen said Israeli officials have provided no information about his son's condition after two years in captivity. Instead, families are being briefed on logistics, where the hostages will be taken, which hospitals will receive them and who will be allowed nearby in the first hours and days.

"We don't know exactly in what condition, after two years, he will come out," Cohen said. "This is a big void. We want to get to that point and start rehabilitation."

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

"It's not something you are rehearsing to. It's not a play. It's not show. This is reality. And we're waiting for that moment of reality. Of course, it's going to be an intimate one," Cohen said.

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

"The best thing about my son is that he's my son," Cohen said. "He's a normal boy like every other boy. For me, he's special like his brother, sister. We are a normal family. We are a warm, normal family, and we want to get back to being a warm, normal family."

For two years, Cohen said, he and his family have advocated for Nimrod's release across Israel and abroad. Cohen directed sharp criticism at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him "the main obstacle" to securing hostage releases.

"Once President Trump put the heel on him and forced him to accept the 22-point plan, it went through," Cohen said. "Netanyahu was sabotaging the deals all along the way."

But Netanyahu has denied that any other full hostage release plans were ever available, saying in a televised address on Friday that the recent peace deal only came together after pressure was put 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 inside the Strip. It agreed only when the sword was on its neck, and that sword is still there."

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

"People will ask now that your son is being released, why are you dealing with Netanyahu? Well, because first of all, he's the one to blame, and second, if we don't want this thing happening again, we, the Israeli nation, has to do everything to get rid of this horrible man," Cohen said.

Netanyahu has repeatedly defied his critics, claiming in March 2024 remarks that a majority of Israelis "support the action that we're taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas."

As part of the deal outlined by Trump, Israel will release dozens of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli hostages and allow the immediate provision of aid to Gaza, which has faced severe food shortages and has fallen into famine in some regions, according to the world's leading authority on food crises.