DaysofPal- Hamas announced on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli captives held in Gaza, following extensive consultations with its leadership, other Palestinian factions, and mediators.
The statement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded on TruthSocial that Hamas immediately release all captives, including the bodies of those killed, and called for an agreement to be reached by Sunday evening.
Hamas said it accepted the exchange framework outlined in Trump’s recently unveiled 20-point Gaza plan, provided that “field conditions” allow for implementation.
It expressed readiness to engage in mediated negotiations. It reaffirmed its willingness to transfer Gaza’s administration to an independent Palestinian technocratic body supported by national consensus and backed by Arab and Islamic states.
Following Hamas’s announcement, Trump demanded that the Israeli occupation halt its bombing campaign to allow for a safe handover of the hostages.
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza so that we can get the hostages out safely,” he wrote, adding that the opportunity could lead to “long-sought peace in the Middle East.”
While Hamas signaled openness to certain elements of Trump’s proposal, it stopped short of accepting the full plan.
A key sticking point remains the demand for a demilitarized Gaza.
Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera the group would not lay down arms until the Israeli occupation ends.
Hamas emphasized that the political and territorial future of Gaza must be decided within a national framework rooted in international law.
Senior Hamas figure Osama Hamdan said the group would reject any “foreign governorship” of Gaza, insisting that governance must remain in Palestinian hands.
Trump’s 20-point plan, unveiled earlier this week alongside Netanyahu, calls for Gaza to become a “terror-free zone,” managed temporarily by a technocratic government overseen by an “International Stabilization Force” composed of Arab and international partners.
The plan also promises reconstruction aid and economic development under what Trump called the “Trump Economic Development Plan for Gaza.”
However, critics have described the proposal as “colonial in nature,” arguing that it places Gaza’s future under foreign control while avoiding the establishment of a Palestinian state. Although the plan states that the Israeli occupation will not annex Gaza, it allows Israeli forces to maintain a “security perimeter” until the enclave is deemed free of “terror threats.”
Trump underscored that Netanyahu remains opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state but suggested that after Gaza’s redevelopment and reforms to the Palestinian Authority, conditions could emerge for a “credible path toward Palestinian self-determination.”
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