Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and for Israel to withdraw its forces along an “agreed line,” President Trump announced Wednesday, in what he called the “first phase” of a peace deal. end a two year war.
“This is a GREAT day for the Arab and Muslim world, for Israel, for all surrounding nations, and for the United States of America,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Blessed are the peacemakers!”
Two regional sources told CBS News that there is an agreement in principle between all parties on the release of the hostages, but procedural issues remain. Once these details are processed, it will be 48 hours before any release begins, sources said.
A senior White House official said the hostages could be released Monday. The deal will be submitted to the Israeli cabinet for approval on Thursday, and if it votes yes, the Israeli army will have to withdraw to an agreed line in the Gaza Strip, which is expected to take less than 24 hours. Hamas will then have 72 hours to free the hostages, the official said.
Majed al-Ansari, advisor to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, also confirmed the deal, writing on
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a brief statement on the hostages that said: “With God’s help, we will bring them all home.”
In a later statement, Netanyahu said it was a “great day for Israel” and that he would “summon the government to approve the deal and bring all our beloved hostages home.”
Hamas also confirmed in a statement that it had reached an agreement.
The terrorist group praised Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish mediators for helping broker a deal, and specifically thanked Mr. Trump for his “efforts.” He also called on the president to ensure that Israel “fully complies with the terms of the agreement.”
In his previous article on Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote: “All parties will be treated fairly!” »
The announcement came just hours after Mr. Trump said he might travel to the Middle East this weekend, and was open to a possible trip to the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, at an unrelated White House event, Mr. Trump read a memo passed to him by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The president said Rubio’s memo indicated negotiators were “pretty close to a deal” and would “need him” fairly quickly.
A little over a week ago, Mr. Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan during a meeting at the White House with Netanyahu, who expressed his full support for the proposal.
The current round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas began on October 6 in Egypt, with Egyptian and Qatari officials acting as intermediaries. US envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were due to join the negotiations on Wednesday, days after Netanyahu confirmed he had sent a delegation “to work out the technical details of the release of our hostages”.
The Gaza war, which has rocked the Middle East, was sparked by the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage in Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza against Hamas, which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization, has killed more than 67,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and fighter casualties.
Of the 251 hostages taken to Gaza, 148 were either released under previous ceasefire agreements or rescued by Israeli forcesaccording to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The bodies of 57 other hostages have been returned or recovered, the ministry said.
Mr. Trump’s peace plan called on Hamas to release the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes 20 of them are still alive. In exchange, Israel would release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences, as well as around 1,700 other Gazans detained since the start of the war.
Hamas said on October 4 that it agreed to key elements of Mr. Trump’s initial proposal, including the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the abandonment of its governance of Gaza. But the group said other parts of the plan needed to be negotiated further.
