Praising Gaza breakthrough, Trump says hostages may be freed early next week

Israeli youth perform a creative dance reenactment of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on the Nova Festival next to a concrete bomb shelter in Reim, Israel, on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Some Arab mediators negotiating an end to the war in Gaza believe that they can convince Hamas to partially disarm, a step that has long been a red line for the militant group, according to three people familiar with the mediators’ thinking. (David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER, LIAM STACK, AARON BOXERMAN, ADAM RASGON, JOHN YOON, GABBY SOBELMAN and RAWAN SHEIKH AHMAD

The agreement reached by Israel and Hamas to exchange hostages and prisoners in the coming days is “a momentous breakthrough,” President Donald Trump said Thursday, hailing a deal he brokered that could pave the way to ending the devastating two-year war in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump declared that “we ended the war in Gaza.” That was echoed later in the day by the chief Hamas negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, who said in a televised speech that Israel and Hamas had “reached an agreement to end the war” and that the United States had provided guarantees that it was over.

But it remained unclear Thursday evening if the war had truly come to an end, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel met with his security Cabinet seeking government approval of the agreement and a hard-right minister said his party would not support it.

When asked if the deal meant the end of the war, Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, told Fox News, “It’s the implementation of the first phase.” Although more conditions must still be met, he added, “We don’t have any intention to renew the war.”

Shosh Bedrosian, a government spokesperson, said that a full ceasefire in Gaza would go into effect 24 hours after the government endorsed the deal. After that, Hamas would have 72 hours to return “all of our hostages,” Bedrosian said.

As part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces would withdraw to lines leaving them in control of about 53% of the Gaza Strip, she added.

Trump declared that “this is peace in the Middle East,” and said he would travel to the Middle East this weekend to attend a signing of the agreement in Egypt. Trump also said he had been invited to address Israel’s parliament and intended to do so.

Hamas will return the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza early next week, Trump said. “We are getting the hostages back on Tuesday, Monday or Tuesday,” he said. In return for the roughly 20 surviving hostages, and the bodies of about two dozen others, the agreement calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Here’s what else to know:

— Details unclear: Officials didn’t elaborate on the lines to which Israeli forces would pull back, on the delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza, or on the steps that would follow, leading to a lasting ceasefire. Hamas has publicly rejected Netanyahu’s insistence that it disarm.

— Done deal? The initial agreement between Hamas and Israel addresses only a few of the 20 points in a plan Trump proposed last month, and some of the most difficult issues appeared to have been left to a future phase of negotiations. Those include who would rule postwar Gaza and whether, to what degree and how Hamas would lay down its weapons.

— Prisoners and hostages: Officials are still finalizing a list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel in exchange for the remaining hostages and the bodies of those who have died in captivity. Trump’s proposal stipulated that 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and another 1,700 Palestinians detained during the war would be released. Israel has said that Hamas still holds about 20 living hostages.

— Toll of war: The war in Gaza started in October 2023 when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 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.

— Risk for Hamas: In agreeing to a deal, Hamas is giving up much of the leverage it has with Israel. While the agreement achieves the release of Palestinian prisoners, there is no certainty it will lead to the end of the war and it provides for only a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

— Hope in Gaza: Palestinians in Gaza welcomed the agreement, but many had questions about what it will mean for them, their loved ones and their devastated communities. The situation had not changed in any material way Thursday morning — food, water and medicine remained scarce and their cityscapes remained ruined — but there were reasons for hope.