Hamas is expected to release all living Israeli hostages in the coming days after US President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas had agreed to the “first phase” of a peace deal for Gaza.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
US President Donald Trump has announced a Gaza peace agreement on Truth Social. (Truth Social)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump after the announcement, and they congratulated each other on an agreement to release all the hostages which Netanyahu’s office described as a “historic achievement”.
According to a statement from the prime minister’s office, the conversation was “warm and moving.”
Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “efforts and global leadership”, while Trump praised Netanyahu’s “determined leadership and the actions he led”.
The agreement will head to the Israeli cabinet later today for its approval, and once that occurs, Israeli forces will begin withdrawing to the agreed upon boundary, according to a senior White House official.
That should take less than 24 hours, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss planning.
Hamas then has 72 hours to release hostages, and the White House believes they will begin being released on Monday, the official said, but other sources have suggested the living hostages will be released on the weekend.
The deceased hostages will come out in a later stage in phases, people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
The Israel army will move out of 70 per cent of the area, they said.
Note that prompted Truth Social post
The announcement came after Trump, at a round table in the White House, received a note and spoke briefly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump listens to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (AP)
“I was just given a note by the secretary of state saying they’re very close to a deal in the Middle East and they’re going to need me pretty quickly, so I’ll take a couple more questions,” he said.
The note, on White House stationery, read: “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”
Netanyahu said all the hostages would return home “with God’s help” and said today was a “great day” for Israel.
He will convene the Israeli government today to ratify the agreement.
It’s unknown how Netanyahu’s shaky coalition, including right-wing factions staunchly opposed to ending the war, will react.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (AP)
Hamas also responded, thanking mediators Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, as well as Trump, for the agreement.
The group said the agreement stipulated “an end to the war on Gaza, the occupation’s withdrawal from it, the entry of aid, and a prisoner exchange”.
Hamas also urged mediators to ensure Israel “fully implement the agreement’s requirements and not allow it to evade or delay the implementation of what has been agreed upon”.
The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that started the war and triggered Israel’s devastating retaliation.
Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.
A note passed to Trump asked him to approve a Truth Social post. (AP)
The families of the hostages have welcomed the agreement.
“This marks an important and meaningful step toward bringing everyone back, yet our struggle is not over and will not end until the last hostage returns home,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
It envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force moving in.
The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said recently in televised comments that the negotiations so far “were very encouraging”.
Gaza has been largely destroyed in the war. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted.
Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.
Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ top negotiator, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Trump and mediators that the war “will not return”.
It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.
Civilians flee in Rafah as Israel pushes ahead with its offensive
In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Under the agreement – which Trump and US special envoy Steve Witkoff played a major role in brokering – the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release.
But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases.
Past rounds of negotiations have frequently fallen apart over the same obstacle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the war’s end and Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until the group is destroyed.
The Trump plan attempts to resolve all the issues at once, by laying out Hamas disarmament and a post-war scenario for governing the territory with provisions for a major reconstruction campaign.
– Reported with Associated Press and CNN.
