Trump says Israel and Hamas have “signed” the first phase of the Gaza peace plan

US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had “signed” the first phase of the peace plan in Gaza.

“This means that all hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw its forces to an agreed-upon line as the first steps toward a strong, lasting, and eternal peace,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The announcement comes after three days of indirect talks in Egypt – mediated by officials from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States – aimed at ending the two-year-old conflict.

Both Israel and Hamas also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

However, Trump’s post did not provide any other known clarifications Sticking points in negotiations – In particular, the disarmament of Hamas and the future governance of Gaza.

In a post on the website

Hamas confirmed that the agreement includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the exchange of hostages and prisoners.

The group also called on Trump, the guarantor countries, and other Arab countries to force Israel to “fully implement the requirements of the agreement.”

A senior White House official told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, that “our assessment is that the hostages will begin to be released on Monday.”

Qatari Foreign Minister Majid Al-Ansari said that more details will be announced later, adding that the agreement “will lead to an end to the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid.”

Earlier on Wednesday, expectations grew that a deal was imminent after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked into an event with Trump and handed him a memorandum.

The message appeared to ask for this Trump agrees to share social truth About Gaza so that you “announce first.”

Trump said that memo told him “we are very close to reaching an agreement.” He left the room shortly afterward, saying he should focus on the Middle East.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that Israeli fire had killed at least eight people in the past 24 hours — the lowest death toll reported in the past week.

Hospitals said that two people were killed on Wednesday while trying to obtain food from aid distribution centers in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

On the other hand, the Israeli army said that its forces killed “several terrorists” who tried to attack their position in Gaza City.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

At least 67,183 people have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 20,179 children, according to the Strip’s Ministry of Health. Its numbers are considered reliable by the United Nations and other international bodies, although Israel disputes these numbers.

The ministry said a further 460 people have died from the effects of malnutrition since the start of the war, including 182 people since famine was confirmed in Gaza City in August by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied there is a famine in Gaza and said Israel is facilitating the delivery of food and other aid.