President Donald Trump said on Sunday that a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas could be imminent.
“I think we’re going to have a deal in Gaza very soon,” the president told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Forty-eight hostages remain in terrorist captivity in the Strip, 703 days after their kidnapping during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel. According to official Israeli estimates, up to 20 are believed to be alive.
“It could be a little bit less than 20 because some, you know, they tend to die, right? They tend to die. Even though they’re young people largely, they’re dying,” Trump continued, adding: “Young people don’t die. Young people stay alive. But with this whole thing, they tend to die.”
Asked whether he was confident that the current proposal could get all the captives freed, Trump responded: “Yeah, I think so. I think we’re going to get them all.”
The remarks came just hours after the president announced on his Truth Social platform that Jerusalem had agreed to the latest framework.
“Everyone wants the hostages home. Everyone wants this war to end! The Israelis have accepted my terms,” he wrote. “It is time for Hamas to accept as well. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!”
Hebrew media reported that under the latest proposal, Israel would forgo its planned military operation to capture Gaza City and instead enter talks to end the war under Trump’s personal auspices.
As long as negotiations continue, the fighting will not resume, with the president making the final decision, according to Channel 12 News.
Meanwhile, all hostages would be released on the first day of the truce, while Israel would commute the sentences of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including terrorists serving life terms for deadly attacks.
Hamas confirmed in an official statement on Sunday night that it had received “several ideas from the American side to reach a ceasefire agreement,” conveyed through Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating the indirect talks with Israel.
Hamas claimed it was willing to free the captives “in exchange for a clear declaration of the end of the war and a full [Israel Defense Forces] withdrawal from the Strip, as well as the establishment of a committee to manage Gaza by independent Palestinians that would begin operating immediately.”
The IDF ramped up its offensive over the weekend, part of the implementation of the Aug. 8 Cabinet decision to conquer Gaza City. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said that it now controlled roughly 40% of the city after intensifying its ground offensive.
IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ephraim Defrin said Israeli soldiers were pressing deeper into the coastal enclave as part of the second phase of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.” Tens of thousands of reservists had been mobilized as a “force multiplier” to expand the ground assault, he said.
On Sunday, the IDF struck a high-rise structure used by Hamas terrorists for intelligence gathering, including “observation posts to monitor the location of troops in the area,” the military said. It added that operatives had also planted “many explosives intended to harm IDF soldiers” in the building’s vicinity.
According to the IDF, “steps were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including advanced warnings to the population, the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
Meanwhile, soldiers of the IDF’s Nahal Brigade continued to operate in the Zeitoun area of northern Gaza, per a separate statement on Sunday.
Dozens of terrorist targets were discovered and destroyed, according to the IDF, including observation posts and weapons storage facilities that posed a “direct threat” to Israeli soldiers.
“As part of their activities, the troops dismantled a terror tunnel which spanned hundreds of meters,” the military added. Inside, the troops discovered an operations room used by Hamas terrorists to coordinate attacks.
At the same time, Nahal Brigade soldiers directed strikes on terrorists hiding in a building that contained a tunnel shaft, the IDF said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Aug. 14 outlined his parameters for ending the conflict. The conditions for victory were listed as the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all 48 hostages, the demilitarization of Gaza, Israeli security control and establishing an alternative civilian administration.
