Trump announces progress in the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza
US President Donald Trump has said that significant progress is being made in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He said that Washington was in direct contact with both Israel and the Palestinian group to reach an agreement.
Trump reiterated that the release of the hostages was a priority during a meeting at the White House. ‘We are close to bringing them back,’ said the president, highlighting the progress. ‘We are negotiating with Israel, we are negotiating with Hamas, which is a disgusting group,’ he added.
Although Trump did not offer any specific details about the negotiations, his statements have revived expectations and hopes for a possible ceasefire agreement in Gaza based on the Egyptian proposal with US backing. This would be the first substantial progress since the collapse of the previous ceasefire last month.
In the midst of these developments, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, informed the families of the Israeli hostages that work is underway on a serious agreement that could come into force in ‘a matter of days’. This was reported by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which also said that Witkoff expressed confidence that the agreement would not only include the release of hostages, but also a broader plan to end the current conflict.
According to the same source, Trump has given the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a window of a few weeks to continue with military operations before demanding a complete ceasefire and the start of negotiations towards a comprehensive agreement.
In this sense, US sources confirmed that the war in Gaza was one of the main topics during the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in the White House last Monday.
The same sources indicated that Washington is pushing for a hostage deal as part of a broader regional strategy aimed at ending the war and moving towards normalising relations between Israel and countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, contacts with Iran over its nuclear programme are also reportedly being resumed.
Details of the possible agreement
Israel has demanded the release of at least 11 hostages alive, while Hamas has shown itself willing to hand over only five. Egypt proposed an intermediate figure, which is now being debated with the backing of the United States.
Israel's Channel 13 reported that the security cabinet was updated on the progress of the negotiations by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, who heads the Israeli delegation in these talks. Dermer confirmed that the mediators are working on a ‘new and serious’ proposal that envisages an exchange of live hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
A cabinet source quoted by the Israeli channel said that ‘there is talk of freeing more than five hostages alive’, which suggests that the number could be close to that demanded by Israel.