President Trump said Israel and Hamas signed off on the first phase of the peace plan, with all hostages to be released soon and Israeli troops set to withdraw.

Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to a deal that would release all Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip in the first step toward peace after two years of war in the Palestinian territory.

President Trump said the hostages will be released soon, and that Israel will withdraw its troops in the strip to an agreed-upon area. Hamas confirmed that a broad deal, steered by U.S. envoys, had been reached to end the war, allow more humanitarian aid and facilitate “a prisoner exchange”—a reference to the release of Israeli hostages for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Egyptian officials who mediated the talks said Hamas would let the remaining living hostages go as soon as Sunday morning. Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the hostages would probably be released on Monday.

“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site.

The president’s announcement marks a breakthrough in what had been eight months of stalled negotiations after he took office, bringing Trump closer to a top foreign-policy goal of ending the war in Gaza. It came together in less than a month after an Israeli strike on Qatar—a U.S. ally that harbors Hamas officials—led to heightened fears the war was spinning out of control and brought new pressure on Israel from Trump and on Hamas from leaders in the Muslim world.

Trump employed some of his most trusted advisers—a friend, real-estate investor Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner—to bridge the gapsleading to Wednesday’s announcement.

It is believed there are 20 living hostages of about 250 people kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and other Palestinian factions launched a surprise assault on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas celebrate the news in Tel Aviv. Emilio Morenatti/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would hold a vote with his government to ratify the deal on Thursday. “A great day for Israel,” he said. “With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all of our goals and expand peace with our neighbors.”

Hamas’s statement hinted at major details yet to be worked out, and Egyptian officials said mediators were working to hash out a final agreement that could still get derailed. Among the final issues are the return of an estimated 28 bodies of hostages, the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange and, perhaps most important, how far Israel will have to pull its troops back and how to guarantee the war won’t start again. Since the deal focuses on freeing the hostages, the agreement doesn’t mention Palestinian statehood.

In previous deals in November 2023 and January 2025, hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but the cease-fire agreements eventually broke down.

Hamas wants clearer timelines and commitments for the withdrawal of the Israeli military. It also says it would need at least 10 days to locate bodies of dead hostages, according to people close to the talks. Israeli officials believe it will be difficult for Hamas to locate all the remaining bodies of hostages and will take more time.

Egyptian officials said the partial deal announced Wednesday would be a stopgap to keep talks from collapsing over more difficult issues, such as disarming Hamas. U.S. officials asked the mediators to warn Hamas that the talks would end if no agreement is reached by the end of the week.

Displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Wednesday. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Earlier in the day at the White House, Trump was interrupted while speaking to reporters and handed a note by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. After reading it, the president said: “We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East.” The note encouraged the president to approve a Truth Social post so he would be the first to announce a deal, according to a photograph.

White House officials said Trump is considering going to Egypt, where the talks have been hosted, after his annual checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday. He didn’t rule out visiting Gaza during his trip.

The deal was struck on the third day of talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. Witkoff and Kushner arrived Wednesday, along with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s top adviser.

The talks follow from Israel and Hamas tentatively accepting a 20-point peace plan announced by Trump last week. If the plan is adopted, Trump would chair a “Board of Peace” that would oversee the interim governance of Gaza. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would play a role in that effort.

Representatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, groups that hold some of the Israeli hostages, were also in Egypt for the talks.

There were scattered celebrations in Gaza, where it was 2 a.m. when Trump made his announcement, according to video on Arabic television channels. But some Gazans were cautious about getting their hopes up.

“I feel that this agreement might collapse in the upcoming stages. I’m not very optimistic. I’m worried,” said Ahmed Humaid, 35 years old, in the Gaza city of Nuseirat. “I won’t be surprised if Israel takes all the hostages and then goes back to the war. I understand people are happy that the airstrikes might stop, but they don’t think of the upcoming days.”

More than 67,000 Palestinians have died in the war, according to the Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t break out civilian and militant deaths.

Hamas on Wednesday sought to assure Gazans “that our people’s sacrifices will not be in vain.”

“We will not abandon our national rights until freedom, independence and self-determination are achieved,” Hamas said.

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Source: Trump Says Israel and Hamas Agree to Hostage Release in Step Toward Ending Gaza War – WSJ