Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal to release all the remaining hostages held in Gaza as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the devastating two-year war in the strip.
Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Wednesday: “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 agreement marks a significant breakthrough in Trump’s renewed push to end the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated Gaza and triggered a wave of conflict across the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hands a note to Trump asking him to ‘approve a Truth Social post so you can announce deal first’ © Evan Vucci/AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene his government on Thursday “to approve the agreement and bring all our beloved hostages home”.
The 48 hostages — 20 of whom are believed to be alive — are expected to be released about 72 hours after the Israeli government approves the deal, people briefed on the talks said.
Under the terms of Trump’s plan, Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange and allow a surge of aid into the besieged strip. Israel would also pull its troops back from front lines in Gaza in the first step of a phased redeployment,
Netanyahu said it was “a great day for Israel”.
“I thank, from the bottom of my heart, President Trump and his team for their mobilisation for the sacred task of releasing our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
The agreement comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has been involved in drafting the plans, joined senior Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish negotiators in Egypt, where Israel and Hamas held indirect talks.
Qatar, one of the lead Arab negotiators, confirmed the deal, saying it would “lead to stopping the war, releasing Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners, and allowing aid to enter”.
However significant challenges remain in getting the parties to agree details of the next phase of Trump’s 20-point plan, which calls for Hamas’s disarmament, the further withdrawal of Israeli troops and deployment of an international stabilisation force.
While Hamas has previously said it was willing to release the hostages, it has not said it would agree to disarm, which is one of the most contentious issues. It also wants to negotiate details of Israel’s troop withdrawal and the role of the international stabilisation force, a person briefed on the talks said.
Netanyahu could also face resistance to elements of the plan from far-right members of his governing coalition who have criticised parts of the peace deal.
Under the US plan, Gaza would be governed by a committee of Palestinian technocrats, overseen by an international supervisory body led by Trump and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
The international stabilisation force would work alongside Palestinian police trained by western and Arab states to provide security, while Israeli troops would withdraw under vague timelines linked to the Gaza demilitarisation.
The plan states that there would be no forced displacement of Gazans, and no Israeli occupation or annexation of the strip. Hamas members that give up their weapons and commit to “peaceful coexistence” would be offered amnesty.
Hamas has also been insisting that it wants guarantees from the US that Israel will not resume the war once the hostages have been released.
Efforts to end the war — which was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages — intensified after Trump presented his plan to Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.
Israel broke a previous ceasefire in March and renewed its offensive in the devastated strip, which has killed more than 67,000 Gazans, according to Palestinian health officials, and caused widespread starvation.
Hours before an agreement was reached on the plan’s first phase, Trump said he was prepared to travel to the Middle East as early as this weekend to push the sides to accept his plan.
Progress towards ending the war, would earn Trump rare plaudits from both parties at home, at a tense moment for US domestic politics.
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“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America,” Trump said after announcing the agreement.
Trump’s national security adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed Trump a note on Wednesday evening during a roundtable discussion about domestic issues. Trump ended the meeting soon after, telling the room that he had to focus on the Middle East and that “we are very close” to a deal.
