Hamas is expected to release all living Israeli hostages this weekend after US President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas had agreed to the "first phase" of a peace deal for Gaza.
"I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan," he wrote on Truth Social.
"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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Citing sources, Associated Press said Hamas would release its final 20 living hostages – believed to be all the survivors remaining – on the weekend, while Israeli forces would withdraw from the "majority" of Gaza.
Senior US envoys joined the peace talks in Egypt this morning.
Trump said "all parties will be treated fairly" as he thanked mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey.
The announcement came after Trump, at a round table in the White House, received a note and spoke briefly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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"I was just given a note by the secretary of state saying they're very close to a deal in the Middle East and they're going to need me pretty quickly, so I'll take a couple more questions," he said.
The note, on White House stationery, read: "You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first."
The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that started the war and triggered Israel's devastating retaliation.
Around 20 of the hostages are believed to still be alive.
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It envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force moving in.
The territory would be placed under international governance, with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said recently in televised comments that the negotiations so far "were very encouraging".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already accepted Trump's plan.
His office said on Tuesday that Israel was "cautiously optimistic," framing the talks as technical negotiations over a plan that both sides already had approved.
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In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its longstanding demands for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, but said nothing about disarmament, a step it has long resisted.
Hamas has also spoken against the idea of international rule, though it has agreed it will have no role in governing post-war Gaza.
Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas' top negotiator, told Egypt's Qahera TV that the group wanted solid guarantees from Trump and mediators that the war "will not return".
It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.
In January, the two sides had a ceasefire that brought the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Under the agreement – which Trump and US special envoy Steve Witkoff played a major role in brokering – the two sides were then supposed to enter negotiations over a long-term truce, an Israeli withdrawal and a full hostage release.
But Israel broke the ceasefire in March, resuming its campaign of bombardment and offensives, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas for the remaining hostage releases.
Past rounds of negotiations have frequently fallen apart over the same obstacle, with Hamas demanding assurances of the war's end and Netanyahu vowing to keep fighting until the group is destroyed.
The Trump plan attempts to resolve all the issues at once, by laying out Hamas disarmament and a post-war scenario for governing the territory with provisions for a major reconstruction campaign.
– Reported with Associated Press
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