Trump says Hamas & Israel have FINALLY agreed deal to release Oct 7 hostages as ceasefire set to begin in DAYS
ISRAEL and Hamas have finally agreed to release the hostages trapped in Gaza after a brutal 15-month war, says Donald Trump.
The world has been waiting with bated breath as negotiators hammered out a peace deal with a ceasefire due to start within days.
Hopes for a ceasefire plan, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, have been in the works for over a year.
Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani later confirmed that both a ceasefire and hostage deal had been reached.
The deal will go into effect on Sunday and will consist of three phases that will also include sending aid into Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
That means the first hostages could be set free from Hamas captivity in as little as four days.
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But the deal is not completely finalised with the Israelis yet to officially accept the deal.
Late Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Hamas had backtracked on part of the agreement but stopped short of saying the deal had fallen apart.
Outgoing US president Joe Biden later seconded the ceasefire and hostage deal in a speech from the White House.
He announced at a press briefing: "My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done."
Numerous rumours surrounding a successful resolution have been made in the past 24 hours.
President-elect Donald Trump said earlier this week "there had been a handshake", fuelling positive expectations of a peace deal.
The Republican was among the first to confirm a hostage deal had been reached as he posted on Truth Social describing the agreement as "epic".
He said: "WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!"
Trump later wrote: "I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones."
On October 7, Hamas militants launched a surprise attack in Israel, killing over 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting 250 others.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has since killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, with over half the casualties reported to be women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Any ceasefire deal to finally end the fighting is yet to be officially confirmed by Israel but mediators and sources close to terror group Hamas did announce it before US officials.
While a senior Israeli official said exact details are still being arranged with an official vote on the Gaza deal coming on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office has halted some celebrations when they said some issues are still "unresolved".
Any plan will need to be approved by Netanyahu's Security Cabinet and then his full cabinet.
Both are dominated by Netanyahu's allies and are likely to approve any proposal he presents.
The security cabinet are due to meet at 11am local time Thursday (9am UK time), according to reports in Hebrew media.
In a statement late Wednesday, Netanyahu said Hamas was objecting to part of the agreement which would give Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu's government to approve the ceasefire.
"I say in the clearest terms: This is the right move. This is an important move. This is a necessary move," he said.
The news has sparked renewed hope that the remaining hostages taken on the horror October 7 bloodbath will finally return home to their families after months of agony.
Initial reports say that 33 hostages will be reunited with their loved ones over a six week period.
An official said the hostages released at first would be those “in very bad shape” while the rest of those held in Gaza would follow.
Key takeaways from Biden's speech
JOE Biden has just days left in office with Trump set to come in on Monday - meaning the ceasefire deal could prove to be one of his final acts.
He told reporters that it has been "one of the toughest negotiations" of his political career in securing the agreement.
He added that with his term in office coming to an end next week Trump's team will ensure the deal is completed in the coming months.
Biden said they had been working as "one team" to help force the ceasefire over the line.
But tensions appeared to flare up at the end of his briefing when a reporter asked who deserved the credit between him or Trump.
A smirking Biden responded: "Is that a joke?".
Biden's reign in the White House has been plagued by blunders and mishaps with the pivotal ceasefire announcement providing yet another crucial misspeak.
He opened his briefing by announcing the truce deal before saying the conflict started with "Hezbollah's brutal massacre on October 7".
October 7 was caused by Hamas not Hezbollah who are a separate terror group also allied with Iran in the Middle East.
The Israeli official also said they assume most of the 33 are alive but can't be sure.
Some 100 people are still said to be held captive inside Gaza but the Israeli military believes at least a third are dead.
Hamas previously accepted a draft agreement for a peace deal in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, it is believed.
The terror group's acting chief in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya claimed Israel failed to achieve its goals with the conflict shortly after the deal was first announced.
In a chilling televised address he also vowed the Iranian proxy will neither forgive or forget.
In the third and final phase, the bodies of hostages who did not survive captivity will be returned to their families.
In exchange, Gaza would receive a three- to five-year reconstruction plan overseen by international authorities.
Over 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the bloody war - with many of their homes decimated in the conflict.
One of the key sticking points which prevented a deal from being reached sooner was the timeline for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel has always been adamant about staying in Gaza as to prevent any future surprise Hamas attack similar to October 7.
Netanyahu has refused to waiver on removing troops from the Philadelhpi Corridor, which borders Gaza and Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor which splits North Gaza from the South.
Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said in the past that the Philadelphi corridor is a "red line" which shouldn't be crossed.
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But a senior Israeli official close to the ceasefire talks says Hamas “folded” on its demands over the Philadelphi Corridor, Times of Israel reports.
UK PM Sir Keir Starmer described the ceasefire deal is "long overdue" and called for a "huge surge in humanitarian aid" to Gaza.
What happened on October 7?
ON OCTOBER 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel, marking one of the darkest days in the nation’s history.
Terrorists stormed across the border from Gaza, killing over 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and kidnapping 250 others, including women, children, and the elderly.
The coordinated assault saw heavily armed fighters infiltrate Israeli towns, kibbutzim, and military bases, unleashing indiscriminate violence.
Innocent families were slaughtered in their homes, and graphic footage of the atrocities spread across social media, leaving the world in shock.
The massacre triggered a swift and massive retaliatory response from Israel, escalating into a full-scale war.
The attack not only reignited long-standing tensions in the region but also left deep scars on both sides of the conflict, setting the stage for the 15 months of devastation that followed.