President-elect Donald J. Trump has announced that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire deal and a return of Israeli hostages after over a year of conflict in the wake of the October 7 attacks. Trump announced the ceasefire on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!”
In a follow-up post, Trump credited the “epic ceasefire agreement” to his election victory in November and promised that Gaza would never be a haven of terrorism again.
“We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!” Trump said.
Israeli media confirmed that the Israeli government will convene to approve the deal on Thursday, January 16.
The deal was negotiated in Qatar, which harbored Hamas’ leadership for years until they left in November of last year. The three-stage agreement will see 33 of the 98 hostages released in the deal’s first phase. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also begun preparations to partially withdraw from Gaza.
The Israeli Supreme Court will have 24 hours to permit an appeal to the ceasefire agreement, meaning the end of hostilities would begin on Friday.
The ceasefire is a significant diplomatic victory for President-elect Trump, coming days before he officially takes office. Freeing the hostages from Hamas and ending the conflict was a major foreign policy promise of the Trump campaign, along with ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump has already signaled interest in meeting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and engaging in serious negotiations to end the conflict.