President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that both Israel and Hamas had signed off on the ‘first phase’ of his proposed peace deal – a substantial step in ending the war in Gaza.
‘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,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen,’ he continued. ‘BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’
The Truth Social post had already been teased during the president’s afternoon meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had interrupted a roundtable Trump was having in the State Dining Room to deliver him an urgent note on the Gaza peace deal.
‘I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’re going to need me pretty quickly,’ Trump told attendees.
The frantically scrawled note was caught on camera.
It read: ‘Very close. We need you to approve a post on Truth Social soon, so you can announce the deal first.’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupts a summit held by Donald Trump at the White House to hand him an urgent note on the Gaza peace deal
At the same event, Trump confirmed reports that he would head to the Middle East as soon as this weekend.
He told reporters he would likely travel to Egypt, where negotiations are happening, but expressed an openness to traveling to Gaza as well.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the trip in a statement, saying that Trump would visit Walter Reed on Friday to meet with the troops and receive his annual physical as he’s ‘considering going to the Middle East shortly thereafter.’
It comes as Hamas and Israel remain locked in high-stakes negotiations in Egypt. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are attending the talks.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that he had received ‘encouraging’ signs and hailed the support of Trump, whose 20-point peace proposal formed the basis of the talks.
Hamas too expressed ‘optimism’ over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.
‘The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties,’ senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said from the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where talks kicked off on Monday.
The terror group submitted a list of prisoners it wants to be released in the first phase of the truce ‘in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers,’ Nunu added.
In exchange, Hamas is set to release 47 hostages, both alive and dead, it seized in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, according to Israeli officials.
Among the bodies held by the terrorist group is an IDF soldier killed in the Strip in 2014.
Negotiations are focused on the mechanisms to halt the conflict, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the swap deal, the Palestinian militant group said.
But officials on all sides urged caution over the prospects for a rapid agreement.
Hamas wants a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, a complete pullout of Israeli forces and the immediate start of a comprehensive reconstruction process under the supervision of a Palestinian ‘national technocratic body’.
Israel, for its part, wants Hamas to disarm, which the group rejects.
American officials suggest they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees in Israel would be freed.
Once all hostages are returned, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gazans arrested since October 7, including all women and children.
For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans, the Trump plan says.
In the absence of a ceasefire, Israel has pressed on with its offensive in Gaza, increasing its international isolation.
According to the Hamas-run Gazan authorities, some 67,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault.
It followed the October 7 attack, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages.
