Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Agree To Gaza Peace Plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to halt fighting in Gaza and release at least some hostages and prisoners, a deal pushed by the Trump administration that would represent the biggest breakthrough in months in the devastating two-year war.

“This means ALL Hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw its Soldiers to an agreed-upon line as the first steps towards a Strong, Resilient and Everlasting Peace,” President Donald Trump wrote while trumpeting the deal on social media. “All parties will be treated fairly!”

Israel and Hamas separately confirmed the outlines of the agreement. According to information given to the Associated Press by people familiar with the matter, Hamas was called to release all 20 living hostages in the coming days and the Israeli army to begin withdrawing from most of Gaza.

Uncertainty remains over some of the most intractable disputes between the bitter enemies—such as whether Hamas will disarm, how it will disarm, and who will rule Gaza—but they appear several months closer to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed much of Gaza and triggered other armed conflicts in the Middle East. The war, which began with Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked protests around the world and raised allegations of genocide, which Israel denies.

Israel is more isolated than it has been in decades, and Israelis are sharply divided over whether the hostages should be returned. Meanwhile, the Palestinian dream of an independent state looks more distant than ever, despite recent moves by major Western countries to recognize it.

However, presenting a negative picture as the second anniversary of the war approaches, the Trump administration put forward a plan last month that it hopes will result in a permanent end to the war and bring sustainable peace to the region.

Negotiations to reach an agreement in Egypt have been continuing since the beginning of the week, and a breakthrough emerged at the end of the third day of the negotiations.

“With God’s help, we will bring them all home,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media shortly after Trump announced that an agreement had been reached on the first phase of his plan. Netanyahu said he would convene the government on Thursday to approve the deal.

It was unclear from Trump’s statement how much progress had been made on divisive aspects of his plan, such as the potential disarmament of Hamas; This was a demand the group repeatedly refused to accept.

Hamas, on the other hand, called on Trump and mediators to ensure that Israel “without rejection or delay” implements the agreement, which it said requires the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the entry of aid into the region and the exchange of prisoners for hostages.

Hamas has long said it will not release the remaining hostages without a permanent ceasefire and has guaranteed that the war will not continue once they are released.

Trump’s plan called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of 48 hostages still held by militants in Gaza from an attack on Israel two years ago. Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage by Hamas-led militants. About 20 of the hostages are believed to be still alive.

The Trump agreement also envisioned Hamas handing power to a group of apolitical technocrats overseen by an international organization led by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Under the plan, Israel would also be required to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including nearly 250 people serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.

“This is a great day, a great joy,” Ahmed Sheheiber, a displaced Palestinian from northern Gaza, said of the ceasefire agreement.

He cried on the phone from his Gaza shelter and said he was “impatiently” waiting for the ceasefire to come into force so he could return to his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Hagai Angrest, hostage Matan’s father, said: “We thank President Trump, without him this would not have happened.”

Angrest was standing next to Einav Zangauker, Matan Zangauker’s mother and a prominent lawyer, who he said had tears of joy.

The arrival of Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday for peace talks attended by Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was a sign that negotiators intend to dive deeper into the Middle East’s toughest issues. an american plan to end the war. Netanyahu’s chief advisor Ron Dermer was also present at the meetings.

Trump expressed optimism earlier in the day, saying he was considering a trip to the Middle East within a few days.

Another clue that the agreement would emerge later emerged when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the meeting. He handed a note to Trump “You must approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce the deal first,” White House stationery reads. it said. Truth Social is the president’s social media platform of choice.

The memo led Trump to say, “We are very close to a deal in the Middle East.”

This will be the third ceasefire reached since the beginning of the war. The first, in November 2023, saw the release of more than 100 hostages, mostly women and children, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. In the second, in January and February this year, Palestinian militants released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel ceasefire ended in March with a surprise bombardment.

An increasing number of experts, including appointed by a UN bodyThey said Israel’s attack on Gaza amounted to genocide, but Israel denies this accusation. More than 67,000 Palestinians were killed and approximately 170,000 Palestinians were injured in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says about half of the dead are women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider these figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

in the Gaza Strip, Most of the area is in ruinsThe Palestinians were desperate for a breakthrough. Thousands of people fleeing Israel’s latest ground offensive in northern Gaza and Gaza City have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the area, sometimes using blankets for shelter.

Sara Rihan, a displaced woman from Jabaliya, said she prayed for the war to end.

“I hope we can return to our places, to our homes, even if we don’t have homes,” he said. “Our existence on our land is the greatest happiness for us.”

Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report. Magdy reported from Cairo and Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel