Hostages and prisoners to be freed within 72 hours of deal starting, says Hamas
Hamas says hostages and Palestinian prisoners are to be exchanged within 72 hours of the peace deal’s implementation, AFP is reporting.
The militant group’s comments came after Donald Trump announced earlier that Israel and Hamas had both signed off on the first phase of his 20-point peace plan.
The US president said on social media that the deal meant “all of the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed upon line” as the first steps towards a durable peace.
Key events
Summary
In case you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of today’s major news of a deal being reached on the war in Gaza.
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Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of a peace plan to pause fighting and release some hostages and prisoners held in Gaza.
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The US president thanked mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform: “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.”
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Hamas said it had reached the agreement, confirming the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the territory and a hostage-prisoner exchange. The militant group said the deal came after “responsible and serious negotiations” over the Trump’s proposal.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US “for their commitment to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages” and said that “with God’s help, we will bring them all home”. Netanyahu said he would convene the Israeli government on Thursday to approve the deal.
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In recent days negotiators have been meeting in Egypt to close gaps between Hamas and Israel over the details of the “first phase” of a 20-point plan announced by Trump at the White House last week.
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The Hostages Families Forum, representing many of the hostage families, said it received the news of a ceasefire with “excitement, anticipation and apprehension”. It called on the Israeli government to immediately convene to approve the deal, and praised Trump for his “commitment and determination that led to this historic breakthrough”.
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Hamas plans to release all 20 living hostages this weekend, people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The deceased hostages would come out in a later stage in phases. The Israel army would move out of 70% of the area, they said. In exchange, several hundred Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would be released.
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A Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement for the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The agreement “will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid”, said Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, speaking on behalf of the mediators of the deal. He said the details would be announced later.
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It was not immediately clear whether the parties had made any progress on thornier questions about the future of the conflict, including whether Hamas will demilitarise – as Trump has demanded – and eventual governance of the war-torn territory.
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UN chief António Guterres welcomed the Israel-Hamas agreement, calling on all parties to “abide fully” by its terms.
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Trump said earlier that a deal was almost done and that he might travel to Egypt this weekend, possibly leaving as soon as Saturday.
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The war began with Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, many of them civilians. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead, devastated Gaza and upended global politics.
With reporting from Ima Caldwell
Reaction has begun coming in from Israel and Gaza after today’s reported deal on the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“I can’t believe the news,” a Palestinian man, Ayman Saber, said of the announcement.
The Khan Younis resident said he planned to return to his home in the city and try to rebuild his house, which was destroyed in an Israeli strike last year.
“I will rebuild the house, we will rebuild Gaza,” he said.
The Associated Press also quotes Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandmother was freed and grandfather was killed in captivity, as thanking world leaders for helping secure the deal, saying in a statement:
We express our deepest gratitude as the historic agreement has been signed – the hostages, our brothers and sisters, are coming home.
From the 20 hostages returned, four are from Lifshitz’s community, including lifelong friends. “This united cooperation and shared moral responsibility have proven that when the right people stand together, humanity prevails,” he said.
“It’s a huge day, huge joy,” said Ahmed Sheheiber, a displaced Palestinian from northern Gaza, at of the truce agreement.
Crying over the phone from his shelter in Gaza City, he said he was waiting “impatiently” for the ceasefire to go into effect to return to his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Hamas to swap 20 living hostages for almost 2,000 prisoners in first phase – militant source
Hamas will exchange 20 living hostages for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, a source in the militant group has told Agence France-Presse.
The hostages will be released in exchange for 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, the source added.
The exchange would take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the agreement, which is expected to be signed on Thursday, the source said.
It’s not immediately clear whether Israel and Hamas have made any progress on the thornier questions about the future of the Gaza war, including whether Hamas will demilitarise – as Donald Trump has demanded – and eventual governance of the devastated territory.
But as the AP notes, today’s agreement “nonetheless marked the most momentous development since a deal in January and February that involved the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners”.
Trump set to visit Israel in ‘coming days’ – report
Donald Trump has said he is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days and expressed willingness to speak before its parliament, according to an Israeli journalist.
Barak Ravid said in a post on X on that the US president had told him in a phone interview:
I am expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days. This is a great day for Israel and the world. They want me to speak in the Knesset, and I will definitely do so if they want it that way.
Ravid said Trump added:
My conversation with Bibi was great. He is happy – and rightfully so. This is a big achievement. The whole world rallied to reach this agreement, including countries that were previously enemies.
UN chief urges all parties to ‘abide fully’ by peace deal’s terms
António Guterres has welcomed the Israel-Hamas agreement while urging all parties to “abide fully by the terms of the agreement”.
The United Nations secretary general said the UN would support the full implementation of the agreement and has been ready to scale up delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza that has been sitting on the borders of Jordan and Egypt.
The Associated Press quoted Guterres as saying:
I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognising the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.
United Nations chief António Guterres has urges all sides to fully abide by the Gaza deal, AFP is reporting. More on this soon.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal is to be signed on Thursday in Egypt, AFP has quoted a source close to the negotiations as saying.
Hostages and prisoners to be freed within 72 hours of deal starting, says Hamas
Hamas says hostages and Palestinian prisoners are to be exchanged within 72 hours of the peace deal’s implementation, AFP is reporting.
The militant group’s comments came after Donald Trump announced earlier that Israel and Hamas had both signed off on the first phase of his 20-point peace plan.
The US president said on social media that the deal meant “all of the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed upon line” as the first steps towards a durable peace.
Hostage families’ group says it is excited at Gaza deal
A group representing hostages’ families has received the ceasefire news with “excitement”.
The Hostages Families Forum said it received the news of a ceasefire with “excitement, anticipation and apprehension”, the Associated Press is reporting.
The forum – a grassroots organisation representing many of the hostage families – called on the Israeli government to immediately convene to approve the deal, and praised Donald Trump for his “commitment and determination that led to this historic breakthrough”.
Trump announced earlier today that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the “first phase” of his peace plan to pause fighting and release at least some hostages and prisoners.
The US president posted on his Truth Social platform:
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.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will convene the Israeli government tomorrow in order to approve the peace deal, as reported earlier.
The Israeli prime minister said:
I thank President Trump and his team from the bottom of my heart for their commitment to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.
Netanyahu also said he was pleased with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff for getting the deal closed. The two – respectively the president’s son-in-law and Trump’s Middle East envoy – earlier arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh to join the talks in Egypt.
In the lead-up to today’s peace deal announcement, Donald Trump’s secretary of state passed him a Gaza-related note – during an unrelated meeting – that was captured by news photographers and suggested a deal was “very close”.
Here’s our just-launched full report on what happened in the room.
Hamas to release all 20 living hostages this weekend – reports
Hamas is to release all 20 living hostages this weekend, sources have told the Associated Press, while the Israeli military is to withdraw from the majority of Gaza.
CNN is also reporting that the hostages are expected to be released on Saturday or Sunday, citing an Israeli source as saying.
Hamas is to release 20 live hostages in the first phase of the Gaza deal, a Palestinian source close to negotiations in Egypt has been quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will convene the Israeli government tomorrow to approve the agreement and bring all the hostages home.
