Hamas said in a statement Friday it has agreed to parts of the ceasefire deal that President Trump outlined earlier this week, including a demand to release all hostages — but the group suggested other portions of the deal should be subject to negotiation.
A U.S. official told CBS News the United States views Hamas’ response as positive, though there are details that still need to be hammered out, such as the decommissioning of weapons, which may begin as soon as next week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the deal on Monday. Earlier Friday, Mr. Trump gave Hamas until Sunday evening to accept the deal, or “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”
After Hamas released its statement, Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that he believes the group is “ready for a lasting PEACE.” He pushed Israel to cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” the president wrote.
“In light of Hamas’s response, Israel is preparing to immediately implement the first phase of Trump’s plan for the immediate release of all hostages,” a statement released by Netanyahu’s office early Saturday morning local time read. “We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set forth by Israel that are consistent with President Trump’s vision.”
In a separate statement, the Israel Defense Forces said that its high-level military officials held a meeting overnight, in which Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, “instructed to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan for the release of the hostages.”
In a video posted to Truth Social later Friday, Mr. Trump called the deal “unprecedented in many ways” and thanked several Arab and majority Muslim countries that assisted with the deal as mediators, including Qatar and Egypt.
“This is a big day,” Mr. Trump said in the video. “We’ll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down and concrete.”
Hamas says it’s willing to release hostages, hand over control of Gaza
Hamas said it is willing to release all living hostages and the remains of deceased hostages “in accordance with the exchange formula set forth in President Trump’s proposal.” The proposal laid out by the White House called for Hamas to release all hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023, within 72 hours, and for Israel to release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 other Gazans who were detained following the start of the conflict.
The deal also called for an immediate end to fighting if both sides accept the deal, and for Israel’s military to withdraw to an “agreed upon line.”
Hamas also said it is willing to “hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and with the support of Arab and Islamic parties” — another portion of Mr. Trump’s proposal.
The group was less clear on other portions of the deal. The statement said some aspects of Mr. Trump’s proposal “remain linked to a comprehensive national stance, grounded in relevant international laws and resolutions.” It said those issues will need to be discussed “within an inclusive Palestinian national framework” that includes Hamas.
It’s not clear if Hamas has agreed that it will play no role in the governance of Gaza, which was one provision of Mr. Trump’s proposal.
The plan, unveiled Sept. 29 by Mr. Trump and backed by Netanyahu, called for Hamas to free all remaining Israeli hostages and for the Israeli military to begin withdrawing from parts of the Gaza Strip in phases, starting with an initial withdrawal before the hostages are freed. It also proposed handing over parts of Gaza to a “technocratic” Palestinian committee and deploying a temporary security force backed by Arab states.
Netanyahu, who joined Mr. Trump for a joint news conference at the White House when the 20-point proposal was announced, had said he supports the plan, and that if Hamas does not accept the offer, “Israel will finish the job by itself.”
“We’re giving everybody a chance to have this done peacefully,” Netanyahu had said, warning Hamas what would happen if they didn’t agree to the proposal. “But if Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.”
The president told Netanyahu on Monday that if Hamas were to reject the proposal, “you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do.“
Mr. Trump had said his goal is to ensure a “sustainable, long-term peace.” The president on Monday also said he and Netanyahu were “waiting for signatures and waiting for approvals from a lot of different countries that are involved in this.”
Israel and Hamas have been at war since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, Israel has waged an intense aerial bombardment and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip. More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not specify how many of the dead were civilians or militants.
Some 50 hostages are still in Gaza, fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive, according to Israeli authorities.
Claire Day, Margaret Brennan and Melissa Gaffney contributed to this report.
