A ceasefire agreement in Gaza has been reached following two days of negotiations, marking the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for the region.
Announcing the deal on Wednesday evening via Truth Social, President Trump stated:
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that all of the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed-upon line as the first steps toward a strong, durable, and everlasting peace. 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. 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.”
The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect on Thursday, following the formal signing of the agreement at 12:00 p.m. Cairo time (5:00 a.m. EDT) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Under the terms of the deal, both sides have agreed to a complete halt to hostilities, the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for a pre-determined number of Palestinian prisoners, and the reopening of five border crossings to allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza. The agreement also calls for a partial Israeli withdrawal, with the military set to pull back to a pre-defined line within Gaza. The first exchanges of prisoners are expected to take place over the weekend, either Saturday or Sunday.
However, questions remain about the next steps once the prisoner exchanges are completed. Hamas has not yet accepted several additional conditions outlined in the Trump plan, including full disarmament and the transfer of Gaza’s administrative control to an international authority—reportedly to be headed by Trump himself. These unresolved issues suggest further negotiations will be required in the coming weeks.
Some observers have voiced concern that the ceasefire may not hold permanently. Earlier in the year, Israel had reluctantly agreed to a similar truce in January, only to resume operations in March during the second phase of negotiations—a move said to have been approved by Washington. Analysts fear that once Israeli captives are returned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may come under pressure to resume the offensive if political or security conditions change.
Hamas has also stated that it will push for the release of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been imprisoned since 2002. Barghouti is viewed by many Palestinians as a unifying figure capable of bridging internal political divisions, a role reminiscent of the late Yasser Arafat.