Trump's Middle East triumph: Israel, Hamas reach hostage deal in Gaza breakthrough

Key topics:Israel and Hamas agree on hostage release, troop withdrawal, and aid.Trump hails deal as first phase toward “durable, everlasting peace.”Complex issues remain: prisoner list, ceasefire, and Hamas disarmament..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Dan Williams and Jennifer A. Dlouhy.Israel and Hamas have agreed to terms for the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, a major breakthrough in the US- and Qatari-brokered negotiations to end their two-year war.“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” US President Donald Trump said in a social media post Wednesday. “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.”Israel, Hamas and Qatar all subsequently confirmed a hostage-release deal had been reached.The deal is expected to see Hamas free the roughly 20 people taken during the October 2023 attacks that are still alive, alongside the remains of more than two dozen who died in captivity. Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners along with the troop movement, while aid to Gaza will be resumed.Trump, in a Fox News interview, said he expects the hostages to be released “probably” on Monday..Read more:.Trump warns Hamas: Release hostages now or face “hell to pay”.If the agreement holds, it would mark a major step toward ending the conflict that erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and has thrown the Middle East into crisis. It would be a major diplomatic victory for Trump, who had presented a 20-point plan aimed at ending the conflict last week and appears likely to travel to the region to be on hand to celebrate a deal.As negotiations were closing in on a deal, Trump earlier Wednesday told reporters he might go to the Middle East “some time toward the end of the week.” That could come on Saturday or Sunday, Trump said.“I’ll be going to Egypt, most likely,” Trump said, adding in response to a question that he’d go “maybe before the hostages are released or shortly thereafter.”In an interview later Wednesday with Axios’s Barak Ravid, Trump said he’s likely going to go to Israel as well, and raised the possibility of speaking in front of the country’s parliament, the Knesset.“They want me to give a speech at the Knesset and I will definitely do that if they want me to,” Axios quoted him as saying. First PhaseHamas confirmed an agreement had been reached to “end the war on Gaza, ensure the withdrawal of the occupation forces, allow the entry of aid, and facilitate a prisoner exchange,” according to a statement on its Telegram channel. The statement said Hamas appreciated the efforts of mediators Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, and in an extraordinary shift in tone, added that the group valued “the efforts of US President Donald Trump.”The statement called on Trump and others to make sure Israel abides by its terms adding that Hamas would “never relinquish our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posting on X, called it a “great day for Israel” and said he would convene the government Thursday to approve the agreement. “With the help of the Almighty, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and expand peace with our neighbours,” he wrote.In a separate statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry said an agreement had been reached on “all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement,” which will bring about the release of prisoners and hostages on both sides, and the resumption of aid. It said details would be announced later.Hamas’ initial attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, and more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory. Israel’s war sparked a famine in parts of the enclave, according to a UN-backed body, and led another UN-backed panel to declare it a genocide. .Read more:.The Economist: Trump’s X-Factor secures Gaza ceasefire after 15 months of Hell.Beyond that, the conflict touched off strikes by Houthi rebels against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and punishing attacks by Israel in Lebanon. Israel and Iran traded missile barrages, and the US later targeted Iran’s nuclear program..Next StepsThe agreement was clinched in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, during talks that followed Trump’s unveiling of his plan. A number of complex elements of the proposal may still need to be resolved, with the two sides far apart on issues such as Hamas’s potential disarmament. Trump’s son-in-law and confidant Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are in Egypt to serve as intermediaries in the negotiations. Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the US, European Union and others, kidnapped 250 people in its attack that triggered the war in Gaza, with the majority released during earlier ceasefires. The fate of those left is a highly charged issue in Israel and their relatives have regularly appealed to Trump, as they did to his predecessor, Joe Biden, to intervene to secure their recovery. The deal is expected to usher in a ceasefire that would pause Israeli efforts in Gaza City, the territory’s de facto capital, the latest salvo in a military campaign that has devastated the strip, killed tens of thousands of people and triggered a humanitarian crisis.While the deal is a first step toward what Trump has said he hopes is a lasting peace, many questions remain about whether a ceasefire can hold, and if the parties can find agreement on the many remaining issues outstanding.“There’s plenty of reason to be skeptical here about whether this would not make it past its initial stage,” said Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel Program and senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC..Finalizing the roster of Palestinian prisoners to be released could also prove protracted. Netanyahu, whose religious-rightist government must sign off on the deal, will likely oppose the inclusion of the masterminds of Hamas suicide bombings or of Palestinians who took part in the Oct. 7 raid, which killed 1,200 people. The plan sketched out in recent weeks by Trump envisages Hamas members laying down their arms in exchange for amnesty, and the Iran-backed group replaced by an interim government of Palestinian technocrats under a “Board of Peace” that the US president would chair. Hamas has long balked at disarming and rejects foreign rule over Gaza.Israel, for its part, has rejected any post-war role for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank. Trump has proposed the PA taking over Gaza after undergoing reform. Trump said the US would be involved in helping Gaza stay peaceful and redevelop.“Gaza is going to be a peaceful, much safer place,” the US president said in the Fox News interview, adding that he was “very confident there’ll be peace in the Middle East.”.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Trump's Middle East triumph: Israel, Hamas reach hostage deal in Gaza breakthrough

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