Trump announces Gaza peace deal as Israel and Hamas sign off on 'first phase' of landmark plan
By Nikki Schwab, Ross Ibbetson and Stephen M. Lepore
Daily Mail
Oct 8, 2025
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
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!'
Hamas plans to release all 20 living hostages this weekend, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, in exchange for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza.
Trump later told Reuters that it's 'a great day for the world'.
'The whole world has come together on this one, Israel, every country has come together. This has been a fantastic day,' he said. 'This is a great day for the world. This is a wonderful day, a wonderful day for everybody'.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government will convene Thursday to ratify the deal and looked forward to the release of the hostages.
'With God's help, we will bring them all home.' Netanyahu said in a statement.
The note handed by Rubio to Trump appeared on camera as the president read it over. 'Very close. We need you to approve a post on Truth Social soon, so you can announce the deal first,' it says
President Donald Trump's put out the news in the anticipated Truth Social post, announcing that Israel and Hamas had signed off on the 'first Phase of our Peace Plan'
'I thank the heroic soldiers of the IDF and all the security forces — thanks to their courage and sacrifice we have reached this day. I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for mobilizing for this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.
'With God's help, together we will continue to achieve all our objectives and expand peace with our neighbors.'
Hamas thanked Trump, as well as mediators in Qatar, Egypt and Turkey for the peace deal which they say provides 'the withdrawal of the occupation, allows the entry of aid and implements a prisoner exchange.'
'We call on President Trump, the guarantor states of the agreement, and all Arab, Islamic and international parties to oblige the government of the occupation to fulfill all the agreement's commitments, and not to allow it to evade or delay implementation of the accords.'
Netanyahu's office said that he and Trump spoke and congratulated each other on the agreement to release all hostages, which Netanyahu's office described as a 'historic achievement.'
According to a statement from the prime minister's office, the conversation was 'warm and moving.' Netanyahu thanked Trump for his 'efforts and global leadership,' while Trump praised Netanyahu's 'determined leadership and the actions he led.'
A senior Hamas official said the group has handed over a list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the ceasefire deal.
Zaher Jabarin, who oversees Palestinian prisoners' affairs, said in a statement the list was prepared in accordance with 'the criteria agreed upon in the agreement.'
An Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, October 7, 2025
He said the group still 'awaiting final agreement on the names,' and that they will be announced 'once the relevant procedures and understandings are completed.'
An Israeli official told CNN that they're preparing for Trump to visit early next week.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres welcomed the agreement between Israel and Hamas late Wednesday while urging all parties to 'abide fully by the terms of the agreement.'
Guterres said that the U.N. will support the full implementation of the agreement and is ready to deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been sitting on the border of Jordan and Egypt.
'I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security,' he said.
Earlier in the day, 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.
Netanyahu's office said that he and Trump spoke and congratulated each other on the agreement to release all hostages, which Netanyahu's office described as a 'historic achievement'
A view of devastation in Shujaiyya, one of the largest and oldest neighborhoods in eastern Gaza City
It read: 'Very close. We need you to approve a post on Truth Social soon, so you can announce the deal first.'
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.
Trump also has yet to travel to Israel during his second term.
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.'
There, he would join special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been attending the talks.
Prior to Trump's announcement, 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, that the group had seized during the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken into Gaza as hostages.
Twenty are believed to still be alive.
Once the hostages are returned, Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 Gazans arrested since October 7, including all the women and children.
For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 dead Gazans, the Trump plan says.
Trump's announcement of a deal comes one day after the second anniversary of that grim day, which kickstarted the present war.
This will be the third ceasefire reached since the start of the war.
The first, in November 2023, saw more than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners before it broke down.
The second, in January and February of this year, saw Palestinian militants release 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel ended that ceasefire in March with a surprise bombardment.
No comments:
Post a Comment