Trump Says Israel And Hamas Finalize Gaza Peace Deal

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have “signed off on the first phase” of a deal to end the war in Gaza, a significant diplomatic accomplishment that, if it holds, would halt two years of bloodshed and a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe.

Trump announced the deal in a Truth Social post, outlining an agreement that would include the release of all the hostages seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and would lead to a broader peace between Palestinians and the Jewish state.

“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. All Parties will be treated fairly!,” Trump wrote. “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. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called it “a great day for Israel” and thanked the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. president.

“Tomorrow I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all our beloved hostages home,” he said in a statement. “I extend my gratitude to the brave IDF soldiers and all the security forces, whose courage and sacrifice have brought us to this day.”

He signaled support for a longer-term agreement, saying “With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and enhance peace with our neighbors.”

Hamas did not have an immediate statement on the agreement and it remains unclear what concessions each side is willing to make to end fighting that began with the attack on southern Israel and led to an Israel response that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, including many civilians.

Trump, who along with Arab allies drew up with the 20-point peace plan that was finalized over three days of talks in Egypt this week, said earlier Wednesday that he would travel to the region this weekend to put a capstone on what could be the biggest foreign policy achievement of his presidency.

A Qatari official also heralded the agreement in a post on X, writing that the two sides agreed late Wednesday “on all terms and mechanisms for implementing the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to stopping the war, releasing Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners, and allowing aid to enter. The details will be announced later.”

In recent weeks, Trump worked closely with Qatar in particular to unify other Arab allies behind his peace plan and to help convince Hamas officials to accept the deal.

The agreement would usher in the third pause in fighting since the Oct. 7 attacks. The Biden administration and Arab partners brokered a brief ceasefire that allowed for the release of hundreds of Israeli hostages. Before it left office, the Biden administration, in consultation with the incoming Trump administration and Qatar and Egypt, secured a multiphase ceasefire deal that saw more Israeli hostages released and a months-long pause in fighting in the enclave before it collapsed. Israel broke the ceasefire after conducting airstrikes in Gaza on March 18 against Hamas targets.

Under the agreement Trump first released to the public last week, Israel and Hamas would exchange hostages and prisoners and then lay down arms after two years of carnage in Gaza.

A second phase of the original plan called for Hamas to quickly cede control of Gaza, turning its governance over to an international trusteeship overseen by the U.S. and Arab allies. But it’s unclear if those elements of the plan have been agreed to.

Hours before his announcement, Trump asserted that the deal was “very close” at the outset of a White House roundtable on Antifa. Toward the end of that gathering in the State Dining Room, Secretary of State Marco Rubio entered the room and handed the president a note, which he told people in the room said he was needed back in the Oval Office to discuss the Gaza deal.

A photographer in the room, Evan Vucci of the Associated Press, captured an image of Rubio’s note, which read: “Very close. We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”

The deal will likely ease the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Years of war and Israeli limits on the entry of humanitarian assistance have caused widespread starvation in the territory. Aid groups have warned Gaza is currently experiencing famine and there have been consistent worries throughout the conflict that malnutrition and the collapse of most of Gaza’s infrastructure will cause major disease outbreaks.