Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a long-awaited breakthrough that could point toward an end to the two-year war in Gaza.
President Trump, who helped to broker the deal, said on social media Wednesday that both sides had agreed to the first phase of his plan, including that Israel would pull back its troops to an agreed-upon line. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had spoken with Mr. Trump and would convene his government on Thursday to sign off on the agreement.
Hamas said in a statement that the agreement would lead to the end of the war in Gaza and Israel’s withdrawal from the territory. The militant group called on Mr. Trump and others to compel Israel “to fully implement the agreement’s requirements.” Hamas and Qatar, one of the countries brokering the negotiations, also indicated in statements that the agreement would allow for the entry of aid into Gaza.
But the specifics of the hostages-for-prisoner exchange and the line of Israeli withdrawal were unclear. Israel, in its initial statements, did not mention a troop pullback. And while Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement that all Israeli hostages would be brought home, he offered no other specifics.
The war in Gaza began in October 2023 when Hamas led an attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people. They took about 250 hostages. The Israeli military has since killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including civilians and combatants, according to the Gaza health ministry, and reduced the territory’s infrastructure to ruins.
In late September, Mr. Trump unveiled a sweeping 20-point plan to end the war and free the remaining hostages. It called for Israeli hostages to be exchanged for 250 Palestinians prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans jailed by Israel during the war.
An official familiar with the details of the agreement, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy, said all the living hostages, believed to number about 20, are expected to be released at once, likely on Sunday. The remains of up to 28 hostages will be returned in stages, the official said.
Still, it is not clear if the war will actually end. Hamas has publicly rejected Mr. Netanyahu’s demand that it disarm, and no mention was made of the group’s weapons in statements on the agreement from Israel, Qatar, the United States or Hamas itself.
Here’s what else to know:
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Hope in Gaza: Palestinians in Gaza received the news with hope that it might finally bring their two-year-long nightmare to an end. Montaser Bahja, an English teacher displaced in Khan Younis with his family, said he felt “joy for the end of the war and the killing, and sorrow for everything we’ve lost.” Everyone, he added, was awake and glued to the news, waiting to hear when a truce might come into effect.
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Peace plan: Mr. Trump’s 20-point peace plan contains elements that Hamas has resisted in the past and may yet prove to be sticking points. Read more ›
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Trump’s deadline: Mr. Trump warned Hamas on Friday that many more of its fighters would be killed if the group did not agree to a deal by Sunday evening. The same day, Hamas said it would agree to release all of the hostages held in Gaza, living and dead, but wanted to negotiate elements of the plan. That evening, Mr. Trump said that he believed Hamas was “ready for a lasting peace” and called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza.
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Pressure on Israel: Israel’s Sept. 9 strike targeting Hamas representatives in Qatar rankled government officials both in the region and in Washington. But it also motivated an angry Mr. Trump and his advisers to pressure Mr. Netanyahu into supporting a framework for ending the war. Read more ›
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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