According to the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, Israel and Hamas had settled on the first phase of a peace plan that would potentially end the two-year war and the release of hostages.
Trump, in his social media platform Truth Social, penned 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. All Parties will be treated fairly!”
The preliminary deal has been confirmed by Israeli officials, Hamas, and the mediator, Qatar.
According to a post translated by CNBC in Arabic, in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) Qatari Prime Minister’s spokesperson Maged al Ansary stated on the ongoing agreement, which has reached “all terms and mechanisms for implementing the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to stopping the war, releasing Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners and allowing aid to enter.” He added that additional information will be brought on this matter.
In a post on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump, adding, “With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home. This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel.”
Reuters indicated that a spokesperson of the Israeli government said that the release of hostages will begin on Saturday. During an interview with Fox News, Trump indicated that he hoped that the hostages would be released “probably” on Monday, stateside.
In a different statement by Hamas, the group stated that “We highly appreciate the efforts of our mediating brothers in Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. We also value the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump, who seeks to bring about a definitive end to the war and a complete withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip.”
It was not clear that the parties had reached some ground on more contentious matters, such as whether Hamas would like to demilitarize as President Trump has insisted, and how the war-torn Gaza Strip should be governed.
The deal, which followed weeks of talks in Egypt, is set to witness the freeing of approximately 20 Israeli hostages in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Trump had indicated optimism on the development earlier in the day by stating that he was contemplating a visit to the Middle East in the coming days.
A 20-point proposal issued by Trump last month to bring the war in Gaza to an end called for “a process of demilitarization of Gaza … which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning.”
The proposal entailed that Gaza to be governed under “the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.”
The Gaza war began in October 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed Israel, killing approximately 1200 civilians. The revenge attack by Israel has since resulted in the death of over 67,000 individuals, as well as the destruction of most of Gaza, and plunged the Middle East into a crisis.
