WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 8 that a deal with terrorist group Hamas has been reached for the release of hostages, marking a breakthrough toward ending the two-year war in Gaza.
“All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Trump said that Hamas has agreed to the initial phase of his 20-point Gaza peace plan, which includes the release of some Israeli hostages and prisoner exchanges. The hostage exchange is expected to occur within the next 48 hours, coinciding with Trump’s potential visit to the region. Negotiations on the other parts of the peace deal are ongoing.
The news first came when Trump was hosting a White House roundtable with several Cabinet members and journalists on Antifa.
During the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio came to the room and handed the president a note.
“We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’re going to need me pretty quickly,” Trump told reporters after reading the note. The president ended the press conference shortly after that.
During the roundtable, Trump also said he may travel to the Middle East over the weekend.
“I’ll be going to Egypt, most likely. That’s where everybody is gathered right now, and we appreciate that very much. But I’ll be making the rounds as the expression goes,” he said.
For the past few days, Egypt has been hosting indirect talks to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Trump added that multiple parties have been involved in peace discussions in Egypt, including Hamas and “all of” the Muslim and Arab nations.
“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well,” he said. “We’ll be leaving, probably on Sunday, maybe Saturday, maybe a little later than Saturday evening, but that seems to be our schedule.”
The Trump administration recently introduced a 20-point Middle East peace plan to end the war in Gaza. Washington’s plan includes the return of all hostages—both living and dead—an immediate cease-fire, a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, large-scale reconstruction, and a new dialogue between Palestinians and Israel for “peaceful coexistence.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
