Hamas agrees to release Israeli hostages but sets conditions

Hamas agreed to release the last of the hostages from its 2023 attack on Israel but said the rest of a U.S. peace plan would be subject to negotiation, a stance that offered uncertain hopes for an end to the conflict in Gaza.

President Donald Trump responded favorably to the Hamas statement even though the group failed to address other key elements of his 20-point proposal that Israel has also demanded, including that it disarm. He called on Israel to stop its bombing campaign and said discussions were underway on “details to be worked out,” suggesting that he was willing to give Hamas some leeway.

“I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” Trump said of Hamas in a social media post. “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”

Trump’s position shifted the onus to Israel, which had previously vowed to press ahead with its campaign until all hostages are released and the group is defeated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that fighting would continue during any negotiations, and abiding by Trump’s demand would likely face resistance from key members of his ruling coalition.

Even so, the statement was different from ones Hamas has made in the past, and marked the first time that Hamas has shown its readiness to release all the hostages with few apparent conditions. There was no demand for a permanent ceasefire, for example.

Arab nations had put strong pressure on Hamas to agree to Trump’s proposal. Egypt and Qatar both voiced approval of the Hamas statement, with Qatar government spokesman Majed Al Ansari saying his nation, which had served as a mediator in previous rounds of talks, supported Trump’s push for “rapid results that would put an end to the bloodshed of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

“Now the ball is back in Netanyahu’s court,” said Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine-Israel program at the Arab Center in Washington. “They wanted the White House to treat this as take-it-or-leave-it. And this suggests that Trump is not ready to leave it.”

In its statement, Hamas said it agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners — both living and deceased — in accordance with the exchange formula outlined in President Trump’s proposal, and contingent upon the necessary field conditions for carrying out the exchange.”

Hamas also said the hostages would need to be released “in a manner that ensures the cessation of the war and the full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” a caveat that raised questions in Israel about whether the group would go through with the plan.

The group said other parts of Trump’s 20-point plan “require a unified national stance and must be addressed based on relevant international laws and resolutions.” There was also no mention of Trump’s proposal for the involvement of a “Board of Peace” to be chaired by Trump and involve other world leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“We will enter negotiations regarding all issues related to the movement and weapons,” senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk said to Qatari network Al Jazeera. “We agreed to the plan in principle based on its main points, but its implementation requires negotiations.”

Netanyahu’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment and officials were otherwise quiet given that the statement came in the middle of the Jewish sabbath. The Israeli shekel jumped after the Hamas statement, reflecting that investors saw the statement as a positive sign. Hamas is still holding 48 people with Israel believing around 20 are still alive.

Trump had warned earlier Friday that Hamas had until 6 p.m. on Sunday Washington time to accept the proposal he had announced earlier in the week with Netanyahu. Otherwise, “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” the U.S. president said in a social-media post on Friday.

There was no immediate sign that it would go far enough to persuade Israel to stop its campaign in response to the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted another 250. The resulting war has killed more than 66,000 Gazans, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

“Any agreement to release hostages is absolutely positive but different than an agreement on Trump’s points,” said Jonathan Panikoff, former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East. “It puts Netanyahu in a tight position because he’s been saying for a while, ‘Hamas could end the war tomorrow by releasing the hostages.’ So if Hamas does that, what does Netanyahu do?”

On Monday, Trump and his Israeli counterpart in a joint White House news conference presented the plan to end the two-year conflict and warned that if Hamas rejected the deal Israel would have “our full backing” to destroy the militant group, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

The plan reiterates demands for Hamas to hand over remaining hostages and disarm — but includes new elements including an offer of amnesty to any operative who hands over his weapons and commits to coexistence. The proposal also backs away from Trump’s earlier idea of driving Gazans into exile, promises a significant increase in aid deliveries and global involvement to rebuild the war-torn territory.

Ehud Yaari, a veteran Israeli commentator on the region, voiced skepticism about the Hamas response.

“They need to give an answer on whether they’re prepared to accept the plan that was agreed among the U.S., Arab states, Muslim states and Israel — the Trump plan,” Yaari said on Channel 12, where he is Arab affairs editor. “And they’re not giving that answer.”

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With assistance from Fadwa Hodali, Peter Martin and Derek Wallbank.

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