After Hamas, on Friday night, partially agreed to President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel is ready for an “immediate implementation of the first phase” of the plan that requires the release of all remaining hostages from Gaza within the first 72 hours.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was preparing for an “immediate implementation” of the first stage of Trump’s Gaza plan for the release of Israeli hostages following Hamas’ response,” Reuters reported.
Hamas is required to free all Israeli hostages in the initial phase of the 20-point plan. According to the Trump plan, “Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.” On Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the Gaza peace plan at a White House meeting with President Trump.
“In light of Hamas’s response, Israel is preparing for immediate implementation of the first phase of Trump’s plan for the release of all hostages,” the Prime Minister’s office said. Friday night. “We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles Israel has set that align with President Trump’s vision.”
The Israeli prime minister’s statement came after President Trump called for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza to facilitate the immediate release of hostages from Hamas captivity.
“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” The president wrote on Truth Social. “We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East.”
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Israeli negotiators were heading to the Egyptian capitol Cairo to meet Hamas leadership. Ambassador “Witkoff was traveling to Egypt alongside Israeli and Arab negotiators for talks on the deal to end the war in Gaza,” the Jerusalem Post reported Saturday morning. “Hamas negotiators are also expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday night, with negotiations set to begin on Sunday, according to Saudi outlet Al Arabiya.”
President Trump welcomed Israel’s decision to halt military operations in Gaza and told Hamas that he won’t “tolerate delay” in implementation of the deal.
“I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,” President Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning.
“Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off,” he added. “I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!”
President Trump spoke to an Israeli journalist, vowing that the Gaza peace deal is gonna be a great success.
“It’s a great achievement. We have everybody with us,” he added.
Hamas, in a statement on Friday night, said that it had agreed to the “release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met.”
The terrorist group, however, refused to hand over weapons as envisaged in the initial stages of the plan. “Political leaders in Qatar lean toward accepting President Trump’s plan, but military commanders in Gaza resist surrendering arms and giving up hostages,” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night.
Israel is expected to send negotiators to Qatar to finalize the implementation of the plan with the Hamas leadership, Ynetnews reported Saturday morning:
According to Hamas’s response, it is ready to enter negotiations – but is not ready to hand over its weapons and is not ready for demilitarization. It agrees to release the hostages – but not on the timeline the President set, and refuses to accept an international-Arab governing mechanism. Hamas also did not include in its response agreement to the IDF’s continued presence in the Gaza Strip. In practice, Hamas ostensibly rejects most of Trump’s conditions but leaves an opening for negotiations – so that it won’t be accused of refusal.Despite this, Israeli sources involved in the negotiations say that “there is something to work with”. Now, it is likely that Israel will be required to send a negotiating team to Doha, and it may even be required to send a more senior team.
Following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement, IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, ordered the military to prepare for a possible hostage release by Hamas. After nearly two years of war since the October 7 massacre, Hamas continues to hold 48 hostages, out of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.
“In accordance with the directives from the political echelon, the Chief of the General Staff instructed to advance readiness for the implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan for the release of the hostages,” the IDF said in a statement Saturday morning.
Given Hamas’s history of deception, the Israeli troops in Gaza remained on high alert. “At the same time, it was emphasized that the safety of IDF troops is a top priority and that all IDF capabilities will be allocated to the Southern Command to ensure the protection of the troops,” the IDF statement added. “The Chief of Staff noted that, given the operational sensitivity, all troops must maintain high alertness and vigilance, in addition to reinforcing the need for a rapid response to neutralize any threat.”
The military reportedly halted the ground offensive in Gaza City. “The Israel Defense Forces was ordered to halt its offensive to capture Gaza City on Saturday after US President Donald Trump said his Gaza truce plan was accepted by Hamas and called on Israel to stop bombing the Strip,” The Times of Israel reported.
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