Hamas agrees to release all Israeli hostages, conditions pending

Hamas said it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, as long as “the field conditions for the exchange are met” and expressed willingness to negotiate through mediators on President Donald Trump’s^[1] plan for peace^[2] in the Middle East.

In its statement on Friday, Hamas said that the group “affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement.”

“The movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support,” Hamas said.

Hamas was responding to a 20-point peace plan^[3] Trump outlined on Monday at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu^[4].

Trump and Netanyahu’s office both replied positively to the Hamas statement.

“Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East.”

In a video address posted later on Truth Social, Trump added, “This is a big day. We’ll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down in concrete.”

Netanyahu’s office also welcomed the Hamas response in a statement on Friday.

“In light of Hamas’s response, Israel is preparing to immediately implement the first phase of Trump’s plan for the immediate release of all hostages,” the statement said.

“We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set forth by Israel that are consistent with President Trump’s vision.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said in a statement^[5] on Telegram that they are taking preliminary steps to prepare for implementing the plan.

“In accordance with the directives from the political echelon, the Chief of the General Staff instructed to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan for the release of the hostages,” the IDF said.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, welcomed Trump’s announcement and praised the president’s efforts to end the war in Gaza.

“What matters to us now is the immediate commitment to a complete ceasefire, the release of all hostages and prisoners, the introduction of urgent humanitarian aid through United Nations organizations, ensuring no displacement or annexation, and starting the reconstruction process,” he said in a statement Saturday.

There are 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Earlier on Friday, Trump said Hamas had until 6 p.m. Sunday to accept the ceasefire proposal.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social^[6].

Hamas on Friday also said it wanted to further discuss other elements of the peace plan.

“The other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the inherent rights of the Palestinian people are linked to a comprehensive national position and based on relevant international laws and resolutions,” the group said. “They are to be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework. Hamas will be part of it and will contribute to it with full responsibility.”

Under the plan, Israel’s assault in Gaza would end immediately once both sides agree to the proposal, with all hostages, alive and dead, to be released within 72 hours. The plan says no one will be forced to leave Gaza and those who do can return.

A pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood is outlined as a possible outcome, but not a guarantee.

By agreeing to hand over administration of the Gaza Strip to an independent body of technocrats, Hamas appears to have agreed to one of the key points of Trump’s plan to relinquish control, but it is still not clear whether it will agree to “not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form,” as the plan stipulates.

The Hamas response does not address one critical point: disarmament. Trump’s plan states that Hamas must agree to “a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning.” This is likely to be one of the major sticking points if negotiations proceed.

Hamas’s response comes as the Israeli military is pressing ahead with a ground operation in famine-stricken Gaza City^[7], despite mounting international pressure and isolation over its assault on the devastated Palestinian enclave.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the Hamas response, according to his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Guterres “urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end,” Dujarric said in a statement.

Qatar and Egypt, both countries involved in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, also welcomed the Hamas response.

In his video address on Truth Social on Friday, Trump thanked Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan as countries “that helped me put this together.”

If the deal is consummated, it would represent the clearest foreign policy victory of Trump’s second term so far — the brokering of a peace agreement that proved elusive for his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and one that he promised he would deliver quickly as he campaigned for the Oval Office in 2024.

During that race, Trump highlighted a deep rift in the Democratic Party over the war that pitted pro-Israel moderates against liberal defenders of Palestinians. Though Trump’s focus on helping negotiate a permanent ceasefire has waxed and waned over the course of his eight-plus months in office, the conflict was never off his radar.

He assigned one of his closest allies, fellow real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, to quarterback the American deal-making team, and he put his own capital on the line in discussions with major players in the region as recently as this week.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a longtime informal adviser to Trump, said in an interview with NBC News on Friday that the president has held a vision for the Middle East that includes progress for Israel and Arab nations since he first took office in 2017 and that his insistence on wrangling an apology from Netanyahu for Israeli strikes in Qatar demonstrated his commitment to that view.

“What you’re seeing is, first of all, a very subtle, complex set of relationships being nurtured by the president with a continued emphasis on a better future,” Gingrich said.

If a peace agreement “actually happens,” Gingrich added, it could put Trump in league with President Theodore Roosevelt, who negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese war in the early part of the 20th century, and that “would have a substantial impact” on the perception of Trump in the U.S.

A senior Arab diplomat told NBC News that the Hamas response is “positive,” adding: “They had no choice but to accept.”

But a former Western diplomat with experience in the region told NBC News that the plan could still fall apart.

“This may be the beginning of the end, but there is still more work to do. Hamas has not accepted key elements of the plan nor the timeframe for hostage releases,” the diplomat said. “Trump’s call on Israel to halt strikes will call Hamas’s bluff over the coming days. It’s now up to Hamas. We either see hostages coming out this week or the war will restart.”

Trump’s peace plan was met with cautious optimism earlier in the week by leaders elsewhere in the Middle East and around the world.

Muslim powers including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey welcomed the plan in a joint statement calling Trump’s efforts “sincere.”

The proposal also received support from Europe, with countries that had recently defied Washington by formally recognizing Palestinian statehood^[8] welcoming the initiative.

But hours after Trump announced the plan, Netanyahu reiterated his past vows to oppose Palestinian statehood.

“Instead of Hamas isolating us, we turned the tables and isolated Hamas,” he said in Hebrew in a video discussing his U.S. trip.

The developments come on the eve of the second anniversary of the fighting, which began with the Hamas-led terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.

According to health officials in the enclave, Israeli forces have killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in the past two years.