
Hamas says it has agreed to release all Israeli hostages and return the remains of the deceased under Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
The announcement comes just hours after the US president threatened to unleash ‘all hell’ on the jihadists if they did not agree to his peace proposal which was backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
‘The movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement,’ Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas also agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats. It claimed those technocrats will be ‘based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.’
Trump responded on his Truth Social platform that he believes Hamas are acting in good faith and demanded that Israel ‘immediately stop the bombing of Gaza so that we can get the hostages out.’
‘Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,’ the president said.
The terror group rejected Trump’s proposed chairmanship of a ‘Board of Peace’ that would rule over Gaza, with other leaders such as ex-British prime minister Tony Blair suggested as members.
Hamas chief Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera: ‘We will never accept anyone who is not Palestinian to control the Palestinians. We can’t bring someone like Tony Blair to be governor in Gaza because this man, he destroyed Iraq’.
Trump and Netanyahu at the White House on Monday
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Hamas claimed that it will hand over control of Gaza to a group of Palestinian technocrats
The Islamists said that other elements of Trump’s 20-point peace plan regarding the future of Gaza ‘will be discussed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly.’
Trump is set to respond to Hamas from the Oval Office later today, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The jihadists praised Trump in its announcement, writing: ‘Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of US President Donald Trump, calling for stopping the war on the Gaza Strip, exchanging prisoners, immediate entry of aid, rejecting the occupation of the Strip, and rejecting the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.’
Twenty hostages are thought to still remain in Hamas captivity, as well as the bodies of another 28 it has refused to send home to Israeli families since its barbaric attack on October 7, 2023.
Hamas’ statement comes a few hours after Trump issued a warning on Truth Social demanding the group accept his peace plan outlined earlier this week.
Trump threatened that ‘all hell’ will break out on the militants if they did not accept his plan by 6pm on Sunday. The deal includes that all remaining hostages are released within 72 hours of an agreement.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday: ‘Hamas has been a ruthless and violent threat, for many years, in the Middle East! They have killed (and made lives unbearably miserable), culminating with the October 7th MASSACRE, in Israel, babies, woman, children, old people, and many young men and women, boys and girls, getting ready to celebrate their future lives together.’
Trump met Netanyahu earlier this week at the White House along with some of the Israeli PM’s top team, and agreed on a new peace deal for Gaza.
The White House released a 20-point plan, which included increasing aid to Gaza and an economic development proposal that includes preferred tariffs and access rates.
Hamas is pushing back against disarming, according to Arab mediators in Doha, Qatar, stating that they must retain defensive capabilities.

This handout picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Israeli hostage Emily Damari (2nd L) embracing a relative welcoming her at the Sheba medical center in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19
The terror organization said it would be willing to handover offensive weapons to Egypt and the United Nations for storage.
Hamas has also reiterated its demand for a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
Previous attempts to pressure the Islamists into agreeing a peace deal, including threats from US envoy Steve Witkoff, have failed to yield an outcome.
Negotiations almost collapsed collapsed last month after Israel’s strike on Qatar, which has been a crucial mediator in the discussions.
Since then, Trump has managed to gain support from Netanyahu as well as the key Arab power brokers in the region.