Trump says Israel, Hamas reach hostage deal in Gaza breakthrough

President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas had agreed to terms for the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, a major breakthrough in the US- and Qatari-brokered negotiations to end their two-year war.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday. “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.”

The deal is expected to see Hamas free the roughly 20 people taken during the October 2023 attacks that are still alive, alongside the remains of more than two dozen more who died in captivity. Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners along with the troop movement, while aid to Gaza will be resumed.

If the agreement holds, it would mark a major step toward ending the conflict that erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and has thrown the Middle East into crisis. It would be a major diplomatic victory for Trump, who had presented a 20-point plan aimed at ending the conflict last week and appears likely to travel to the region to be on hand to celebrate a deal.

As negotiations were closing in on a deal, Trump earlier Wednesday told reporters he might go to the Middle East “some time toward the end of the week.” That could come on Saturday or Sunday, Trump said.

“I’ll be going to Egypt, most likely,” Trump said, adding in response to a question that he’d be go “maybe before the hostages are released or shortly thereafter.”

First phase

Hamas confirmed an agreement had been reached to “end the war on Gaza, ensure the withdrawal of the occupation forces, allow the entry of aid, and facilitate a prisoner exchange,” according to a statement on its Telegram channel. The statement said Hamas appreciated the efforts of mediators Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, and in an extraordinary shift in tone, added that the group valued “the efforts of US President Donald Trump.”

The statement called on Trump and others to make sure Israel abides by its terms adding that Hamas would “never relinquish our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posting on X, called it a “great day for Israel” and said he would convene the government Thursday to approve the agreement.

“With the help of the Almighty, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and expand peace with our neighbors,” he wrote.

In a separate statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry said an agreement had been reached on “all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement,” which will bring about the release of prisoners and hostages on both sides, and the resumption of aid. It said details would be announced later.

Hamas’ initial attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, and more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory. Israel’s war sparked a famine in parts of the enclave, according to a UN-backed body, and led another UN-backed panel to declare it a genocide.

Beyond that, the conflict touched off strikes by Houthi rebels against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and punishing attacks by Israel in Lebanon. Israel and Iran traded missile barrages, and the US later targeted Iran’s nuclear program.

Next steps

The agreement was clinched in in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, during talks that followed Trump’s unveiling of his plan. A number of complex elements of the proposal may still need to be resolved, with the two sides far apart on issues such as Hamas’s potential disarmament.

Trump’s son-in-law and confidant Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are in Egypt to serve as intermediaries in the negotiations.

Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US, European Union and others, kidnapped 250 people in its attack that triggered the war in Gaza, with the majority released during earlier ceasefires.

The fate of those left is a highly charged issue in Israel and their relatives have regularly appealed to Trump, as they did to his predecessor, Joe Biden, to intervene to secure their recovery.

The deal is expected to usher in a ceasefire that would pause Israeli efforts in Gaza City, the territory’s de facto capital, the latest salvo in a military campaign that has devastated the strip, killed tens of thousands of people and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Finalizing the roster of Palestinian prisoners to be released could also prove protracted. Netanyahu, whose religious-rightist government must sign off on the deal, will likely oppose the inclusion of the masterminds of Hamas suicide bombings or of Palestinians who took part in the Oct. 7 raid, which killed 1,200 people.

The plan sketched out in recent weeks by Trump envisages Hamas members laying down their arms in exchange for amnesty, and the Iran-backed group replaced by an interim government of Palestinian technocrats under a “Board of Peace” that the US president would chair. Hamas has long balked at disarming and rejects foreign rule over Gaza.

Israel, for its part, has rejected any post-war role for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank. Trump has proposed the PA taking over Gaza after undergoing reform.