WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump welcomed Hamas’ decision to release all hostages from Gaza, saying it’s “a big day” and he looked “forward to having the hostages come home to their parents.”
“I just want to let you know that this is a very special day. In many ways, it is unprecedented, but thank you all, and thank you all to those great countries that helped. We're very close to achieving that. We'll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down in concrete, ” Trump said in a video address.
In a separate Truth Social post, Trump said Israel “must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!, ” adding that he believed that Hamas was “ready for a lasting PEACE.”
Trump’s statements come after Hamas announced plans to free all Israeli hostages held in Gaza and hand over the bodies of captives.
In a statement on the social media site Telegram, Hamas said, “the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement.”
It also agreed to hand over Gaza’s administration to a “Palestinian body of independent technocrats, based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.”
Around 48 people are believed to remain in captivity, and about 20 are thought to be alive.
Hamas made its decision public hours after US President Donald Trump gave an ultimatum to the group to sign his Gaza peace plan by Sunday or “all hell will break out.”
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump posted, “An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, DC time. Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas, ” he said.