Trump-Brokered Gaza Deal Promises Release of All Israeli Hostages, Yet Hamas’s Demands Raise Alarming Questions.NN
Hamas on Friday agreed to release all Israeli hostages — living and dead — but wants to negotiate the other terms of President Trump’s comprehensive peace deal even after the commander in chief said there was “not much” room for discussion.
In a statement, the terror group said it had held “in-depth consultations … to reach a responsible position in dealing with” Trump’s proposal for an end to the fighting in Gaza, which is set to enter its third year Tuesday.
“Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” Trump said in a statement posted to his Truth Social page.
The commander in chief later posted a short video on Truth, calling Friday a “very special, maybe unprecedented” day, while thanking countries including Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan for their help in hammering out the proposed peace deal.
“This is a big day. We’ll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down and concrete,” he said. “Very importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents.”
“He also said “we’re very close to achieving” peace.”He also said “we’re very close to achieving” peace.
“Thank you all and everybody will be treated fairly,” Trump promised.
Hamas said it was ready to immediately begin negotiations through mediators to finalize details of the arrangement. Trump posted text of Hamas’ statement on his Truth Social page.
It also said it would release the hostages once “field conditions are met” — meaning once Israel pulled back its forces to the lines of engagement set forth in Trump’s peace plan. The IDF is currently well into Gaza, closing in on Gaza City.
Tuesday marks the two-year anniversary of the 2023 Hamas attack in which around 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed and more than 250 were taken captive.
Since the attack, Israel and Hamas have signed two formal ceasefire agreements that allowed for a brief pause in hostilities as well as prisoner and hostage exchanges.
As of Friday, there are believed to be 48 hostages still being held in Gaza — 20 of whom believed to still be alive. Two Americans are among the dead — Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21.
Neutra’s dad, Ronen Neutra, expressed cautious optimism.
“We’re hopeful that this is the beginning of the end, that Hamas gave a serious answer, that the threats of President Trump have echoed and they understand they have to give the hostages back and they’re not going to start fooling around with ‘We can’t do this, we can’t do that’ later on,” he said.
“But in general that’s the direction we hoped things would go, and we’re just going to sit and wait and hope for them to lay out the agreement together with Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. And hopefully we can see our son back with the other 47 hostages.”
Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, wrote on X: “Agree with @POTUS that Israel should stop bombing Gaza to create the infrastructure to release the hostages safely.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blasted Hamas on Friday, saying its response to Trump’s plan was “predictable” and a “classic ‘Yes, but’.”
“No disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control, and tying hostage release to negotiations, along with other problems,” Graham wrote on X.
“This is, in essence, a rejection by Hamas of President Trump’s ‘take it or leave it’ proposal.”
Chuck Lavine, the Democrat state assemblyman representing Nassau County and president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators said: “For the sake of humanity we can only hope that these accounts are accurate.”
The news comes as Trump issued a 6 p.m. Sunday deadline for Hamas to agree to his peace deal, threatening that “all hell” would break loose if it didn’t. Trump unveiled his 20-point proposal on Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Islamic group also said it was willing to hand administrative control of Gaza to an independent Palestinian body — provided it is formed by national consensus and backed by Arab and Islamic states, according to a statement.
Earlier on Friday, Trump gave Hamas until 6 p.m. ET on Sunday to accept a 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan his administration unveiled, warning that failure to do so would bring “all hell” down on the group.
The president said earlier this week that there was “not much” room for negotiations.
But Hamas stopped short of agreeing to the other conditions in Trump’s plan, saying “they are to be discussed within a comprehensive Palestinian national framework.”
The plan — backed by Israel and several regional actors and delivered to Hamas by Qatari and Egyptian officials — calls for the simultaneous release of all 48 hostages (living and dead), the Palestinian group’s disarmament, a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave and the formation of a civilian Palestinian governing authority.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the proposal but warned Israel would “finish the job” if Hamas rejected or failed to honor it.
The Post has reached out to the Israeli government seeking comment.
House Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) released a statement which read: “I am relieved that both Israel’s government and Hamas’s leadership have finally agreed that this war must come to an end, with the hostages released, military operations stopped, and humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians surged.”
“At this precarious stage, it is vital that both parties negotiate in good faith to bridge the remaining issues and reach a lasting agreement,” Goldman said.
The congressman added that he was “praying for the day that the families of the remaining hostages can hold their loved ones again and the innocent Palestinians who have suffered so much over the last two years can rebuild in a homeland free from terror and bloodshed.”
House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X: “Hamas has agreed to President Trump’s plan, agreeing to finally release the hostages. The war must end. Too many people have been killed and injured, and peace is badly needed.”
Some Israelis familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking cautioned to The Post that Hamas did not sign off on all 20 points of Trump’s peace place plan.
Specifically, Hamas neglected to say it was willing to lay down arms for the negotiations to go forward — something that would be a “nonstarter” for the Jewish State, said Scott Feltman, executive vice president of Israel’s One Defense Fund, which assists Israelis living in the West Bank.
“They want to maintain weapons, and that’s just not going to happen,” he said. “… I’m not sure that this is going to satisfy the Israeli side.”
“[The Hamas statement] definitely does not meet all of the points in the President’s peace plan, so I’m hopeful that the President will hold firm on each of the 20 points that he has that that he has put forth,” he added.
Mousa Abu Marzouk, head of Hamas’s foreign-relations office in Qatar, told Al Jazeera on Friday that Trump’s demand for the Palestinian group to free all Israeli hostages within 72 hours of its acceptance of his peace plan is “theoretical and unrealistic under current circumstances.”
Under the Trump plan, Hamas would disarm, relinquish all governing authority in Gaza and allow a technocratic Palestinian committee temporarily manage the enclave.
Oversight would fall to a new international “board of peace,” which would be chaired by Trump and would include global figures such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The framework also envisions an Arab-led stabilization force to maintain security as Israeli troops withdraw in stages but retain a perimeter presence.
Major humanitarian aid would be delivered immediately, while the Palestinian Authority could eventually assume long-term control.
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Hamas responded Friday with a statement signaling conditional acceptance but objecting to the timeline.
Abu Marzouk said the group had accepted a regional framework put forward by Egypt but insisted Trump’s plan required negotiations.
“All details related to the peacekeeping force need understandings and clarification,” he said, adding that Hamas agreed in principle to hand Gaza’s administration to independents backed by Palestinian consensus.
He stressed that defining the future of Gaza could not be decided by Hamas alone.
“The priority is to stop the war and massacres,” Abu Marzouk said, while cautioning the movement would not accept threats or dictates.
