Trump, Witkoff Ram Through Agreement on Hostage/Prisoner Phase of Trump Plan
Oct. 9—President Donald Trump, working closely with his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Arab mediators on site in Egypt, rammed through an agreement on the first phase of his 20-point Trump peace plan that would end the Butcher of Gaza, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza and see Hamas release all hostages—living and dead—by as soon as Monday.
In announcing the agreement last night, Trump posted the following on his Truth Social account:
"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.
"All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!"
Netanyahu and Hamas Respond to Trump-Led Deal
Netanyahu, who would have preferred the slaughter to continue regardless of what happened to the hostages, was quick to pivot to the new Trump-dictated reality:
"A big day for Israel ... I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for their dedication to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.
"With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and expand peace with our neighbors."
Hamas made it clear who they were paying attention to, directing its statement in part to Trump:
"We call on President Trump, the guarantor states of the agreement, and all Arab, Islamic, and international parties to compel the occupation government to fully implement its obligations under the agreement and to prevent it from evading or delaying the implementation of what has been agreed upon.
"We affirm that the sacrifices of our people will not be in vain, and that we will remain true to our pledge — never abandoning our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved."
Ceasefire and Hostage Logistics
To get the deal underway, Trump and Witkoff forced compromises on both sides.
Sources close to the White House said that the U.S. told the Israelis to "cut out the shit" and halt all military operations, as Trump had demanded. While the army, under orders from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Lt. General Eyal Zamir—who has strongly backed the Trump effort to secure a diplomatic solution over Netanyahu’s objections—had ceased its operations, the Air Force, with Bibi's approval, continued to pound Gaza, killing hundreds of civilians.
As of 9:00 a.m. GMT this morning, a total ceasefire went into effect.
Hamas had said that the IDF bombardment did not create "conditions conducive" to releasing the hostages, who had to be rounded up from various locations.
Prisoner Release Compromise and Barghouti’s Inclusion
Trump and Witkoff, sources say, also worked out a compromise about which Palestinians would be released from Israeli prisons. Hamas had submitted a list of who they wanted released, including the most popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, the former leader of Fatah and the man who might lead Gaza and a future Palestinian state. Netanyahu—and especially his lunatic National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—had refused all Hamas requests in other hostage/prisoner exchanges to release him; the mentally unbalanced Ben-Gvir recently threatened Barghouti in his prison cell.
Under the compromise worked out by Witkoff, Hamas can order a number of the prisoners released; beyond that number, Israel would have the right to refuse the requests. A total of 250 prisoners serving long sentences like Barghouti for involvement in events that killed Israelis, were to be released, along with more than 1,700 Palestinian detainees, including women.
Hostage Timeline and IDF Withdrawal Map
Hamas had said that it did not think it could assemble the 28 hostages who either died in captivity or were killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre and brought to Gaza, within the 72-hour time frame in the plan—whose clock is now ticking. The compromise is that Hamas will release all 20 or so living hostages together, within the 72 hours, and some of the dead hostages. The remainder will be released according to and in parallel with, the further withdrawal of the IDF.
The later issue—the withdrawal of IDF forces—was also a matter of contention for Hamas. The withdrawal map showed a line equivalent to its positions in July; Hamas had demanded a withdrawal to positions held in March—at the point that Israel and Bibi unilaterally smashed the 3-phase plan it had agreed to in January, under the prodding of Trump and Witkoff, and relaunched its war of genocide on Gazans.
Under the compromise, Hamas will accept the proposed withdrawal line—but only because the President of the United States personally guarantees that the IDF will fully withdraw from Gaza under the terms of the Trump plan, and that this withdrawal is not drawn out. In addition, Witkoff conveyed Trump's promise that all points of the Trump plan will be implemented, and that Bibi will not have the right to simply restart the war. Witkoff conveyed, through the mediators—who also signed on to this—that as long as Hamas held up its end of the Trump deal, the U.S. would not allow a restart of the war.
Trump’s Leverage and Hamas’s Trust
"I think the key to this whole process is Donald Trump," said the source. "And I think Hamas understands that when the war stops with this ceasefire, he will not allow it to restart—and woe to anyone who tries to go against him. As he has said, 'Bibi is fine with that. He has to be fine. If I am fine with it, then he has no choice.' That kind of toughness is unique to Trump. Yes, he likes the Israeli people, and he may even like Bibi, in the few moments he is not being a bastard. And he likes the praise he gets, even from Hamas. But you know this strange guy, Donald Trump, likes peace more. He is not afraid to fight a war, but he hates war. And this war he has called useless, stupid slaughter."
Hamas, the source said, is "putting its faith in Trump, that he will be fair. There are other issues that are being worked on as the negotiations in Egypt continue, but their details have not yet been fully worked out; for example, disarming Hamas, and who they will turn over Gaza to; the composition of the International Security Force that will police the deal and Gaza, and what its scope of action is. And, while they are not opposed to the Board of Peace, run by Trump overseeing the plan's implementation, Hamas will never tolerate that creep [former British Prime Minister] Tony Blair being on the Board. That's fine with Trump. Blair was put there because his son-in-law Jared Kushner likes and works with him, and Trump wants Jared involved. But Trump will give Blair up, if the Arabs insist."
Disarmament, Governance, and Trump’s Next Moves
This and other sources say that Hamas has signaled their willingness to partially disarm—giving up heavy weapons, rockets, drones, munitions, mines, RPGs, and some assault rifles—but that it wants to keep its small arms to "defend itself." They will never give up their weapons to the Israelis, as that smacks of surrender. These sources say the Egyptians have said they would be willing to disarm Hamas.
Hamas has said it will turn over governance of Gaza to a Palestinian body, but they have reportedly agreed to cede control to a transitional body until a Palestinian government can be created, provided the Israelis have no involvement.
Trump realizes that all these details will have to be worked out in the period ahead, but he wants to put a cap on this so that "we can get to what he really likes—the rebuild of Gaza, for which he has developed some ideas."
"Witkoff recommended that Trump take Hamas at its word and the President agreed," said another source, which moved things forward yesterday.
Sources close to the White House confirm that Trump is planning to travel to the region as soon as tomorrow, after he completes his physical at Walter Reade Military Hospital in Bethesda, Md. To be sure, he wants to bask in the adulation that is expected to be given to him as "the peacemaker." There were reports and pictures of demonstrations in Gaza and in Israel, where people were chanting his name and shouting about the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he has been nominated by a fawning Bibi and the grateful families of the hostages. The recipient of the Prize will be announced tomorrow.
Trump will go to Israel, where he has been invited by Bibi to address the Knesset, and which Trump has tentatively accepted. Netanyahu wants to use Trump to create an image of solidarity with the man who brought the hostages home, for his possible re-election campaign.
Trump reported that he had called Netanyahu after the deal was agreed to and the Israeli said, "I don't believe it. Now everybody likes me," referring to his statement last week in a rougher conversation to get Bibi in line, that he, Trump, was going to make Netanyahu popular again.
He reportedly also told Netanyahu, "You can't fight the world, Bibi. You can't fight the world."
Would Trump Receive the Hostages?
But Trump may be planning something more audacious.
Sources report that Hamas would be willing to turn the released hostages directly over to Trump and would guarantee his safety. In discussing his planned trip to the region with the New York Post this morning Trump said that would like to "go to Gaza."
"|'Ain't that a kick in the head'|" said a source close to White House, chuckling about what that would do to Bibi, who claims that he and his refusal to give in to Hamas and that his bloody war was what brought them to give up the hostages. "That would really be a 'kick in the head.'|" The expression is the title of a still popular song by the late Dean Martin.