Hamas said on Friday night that it had agreed to release all of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza as well as the bodies of those who had died, in response to the peace proposal introduced by President Trump earlier this week.
In a statement posted online on Friday night, the armed group said it would release the hostages “according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, and as the field conditions for the exchange are met.”
“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss these details,” the group added.
The statement also said the group agreed “to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.”
But it was not clear from that language if Hamas had agreed to a stipulation in the proposal that called for the group to be barred from exercising political power in Gaza in the future, or if it saw a place for itself or its members among that body of technocrats.
The question is whether Hamas’s response will satisfy Israel and the White House.
The statement, for example, did not address key elements of the American proposal that called on the group to give up its arms, which has been a major demand of Israel.
Hamas also did not address the offer of amnesty to its members who commit to coexistence.
The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 250 more taken hostage.
Since then, the Israeli military response has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, including both civilians and combatants, according to the Gaza health ministry, and destroyed the territory’s infrastructure.
