Trump: “All Hostages to Be Released” –  Announces Dawn of a New Middle East Accord

By: Fern Sidman

In a dramatic diplomatic climax that has gripped global attention, President Trump announced on Wednesday what he called “the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas.” His declaration, issued through Truth Social and reported by The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), signals the most consequential ceasefire initiative since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre and the ensuing two-year war to eradicate the Iranian-backed terror organization.

“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,” Trump wrote. “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.”

If realized, the Sharm el-Sheikh Accord—set to be formally signed in Egypt on Thursday—would mark a profound turning point in a conflict that has defined Israel’s modern struggle for security and legitimacy. As JNS reported, both Israeli and American officials framed the deal not as a fragile truce, but as a “phased roadmap toward a permanent cessation of hostilities” contingent upon Hamas’s verifiable disarmament and the safe return of 48 remaining Israeli hostages.

The news reverberated from Jerusalem to Washington and across Arab capitals, many of which had quietly supported the mediation effort led by Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. The talks had accelerated over the past month following the circulation of Trump’s 20-point peace proposal on September 29—a detailed framework that JNS described as “the first comprehensive post-October 7th blueprint directly endorsed by both Israel and its Arab mediators.”

Under the terms, all hostages are to be released within 72 hours of the signing. In exchange, Israel will reposition its forces to an “agreed line” inside Gaza, while maintaining operational oversight against renewed Hamas aggression. The plan’s second and third phases—still under negotiation—envision demilitarization, reconstruction under international supervision, and the establishment of a “transitional civil authority” acceptable to both Israel and the United States.

Sources quoted in the JNS report say Trump dispatched envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Egypt earlier this week to finalize the parameters, joined by Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin. Each party, according to diplomatic observers, played a distinct role: Qatar in maintaining Hamas’s participation, Turkey in brokering technical concessions, and Egypt in providing the geographic and political stage for the signing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has weathered two years of unrelenting war pressure, issued a statement filled with relief and solemn pride. “With God’s help, we will bring them all home,” he declared in reference to the 48 hostages still held in Gaza.

“A great day for Israel,” Netanyahu said in remarks carried by JNS. “Tomorrow I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all our dear hostages home. I thank the heroic IDF soldiers and all the security forces—thanks to their courage and sacrifice, we have reached this day.”

In a follow-up statement, Netanyahu extended his “deepest gratitude” to President Trump, calling his intervention “a sacred mission of freeing our hostages and restoring peace.”

According to the information provided in the JNS report, Netanyahu and Trump held what Israeli officials described as a “very emotional and warm conversation” overnight Wednesday, in which the two leaders congratulated one another for the “historic achievement.” The Prime Minister reportedly invited Trump to address the Knesset—a symbolic gesture underscoring both personal admiration and the larger geopolitical realignment this deal represents.

Beyond the corridors of power, the emotional weight of the announcement was palpable throughout Israel. President Isaac Herzog struck a biblical tone in his address, echoing the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “They shall return from the land of the enemy, and children shall return to their borders.”

As the JNS report noted, Herzog’s invocation captured a collective national sentiment—an aching, two-year longing for reunion and closure. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which has been at the forefront of Israel’s civil campaign for their loved ones, hailed the agreement as “an important and significant step toward the return of everyone.”

“There are 48 hostages still held by Hamas,” the group emphasized. “Our moral and national duty is to bring them all home—both the living and the fallen. Their return is essential for the healing and renewal of Israeli society as a whole. We will not rest, and we will not be silent until the last hostage is home.”

For many Israelis, the hostage crisis has been a wound that refuses to heal, haunting the national psyche even amid military successes against Hamas’s infrastructure. JNS chronicled the anguish of families who have endured months of uncertainty, often gathering weekly outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv with banners reading “Bring Them Home Now.” The new accord, for them, represents not only a political breakthrough but a restoration of faith that the state has not forgotten its own.

For Donald Trump, the announcement marks a dramatic return to the diplomatic spotlight—and a reclamation of the legacy he first forged with the 2020 Abraham Accords. The Jewish News Syndicate has consistently chronicled the president’s strategic investment in reshaping the Middle East through pragmatic alliances rather than endless confrontation.

In his latest statement, Trump expressed gratitude to the mediators—Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey—for their role in “this historic and unprecedented event.” “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he wrote, invoking the biblical Beatitude that he has often cited.

Analysts cited in the JNS report described Trump’s approach as a “transactional but visionary diplomacy”—a willingness to engage adversaries without compromising Israel’s core interests. Unlike previous administrations, which relied heavily on U.N. frameworks and European intermediaries, Trump’s team bypassed institutional inertia, dealing directly with regional actors who hold leverage over Hamas.

The new accord bears the unmistakable imprint of that method: fast-moving, personality-driven, and grounded in the hard currency of results. As the JNS report observed, “Trump has once again demonstrated that unconventional diplomacy, when anchored in moral clarity and backed by decisive power, can deliver outcomes that traditional statecraft could not.”

No agreement, however historic, can be understood outside the context of its genesis. The war that now appears to be nearing its end began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, murdering 1,200 civilians, burning entire communities, and abducting hundreds into Gaza. The brutality of that day—documented extensively by JNS and international investigators—shattered illusions about coexistence and propelled Israel into an existential war not only against Hamas but against Iran’s regional network of terror proxies.

Since then, Israeli forces have waged an unrelenting campaign to dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure, destroy its tunnel networks, and eliminate its senior leadership. JNS has chronicled this campaign in granular detail, from the battles of Khan Yunis and Gaza City to the precision strikes that decapitated Hamas’s upper echelon.

Yet the military dimension has always been shadowed by the diplomatic one. Israel’s victory on the battlefield needed a counterpart in the court of world opinion—a task made vastly more difficult by a global surge of anti-Israel protests and the deliberate spread of Hamas propaganda through social media. JNS has repeatedly documented how fabricated imagery, selective framing, and overt disinformation distorted global perceptions, often turning aggressors into victims and victims into villains.

As the conflict dragged on, the battleground extended into Western universities and media outlets. Across the United States and Europe, anti-Israel campus encampments mushroomed, fueled by slogans that blurred the line between criticism of Israeli policy and antisemitic vilification. JNS traced this phenomenon meticulously, exposing how many campus protests adopted Hamas talking points wholesale while Jewish students reported harassment, intimidation, and exclusion.

The current peace breakthrough therefore carries symbolic weight beyond the immediate terms of hostage release and troop withdrawal. It represents a moral and strategic victory for Israel in an environment where its legitimacy has been under sustained assault. As one JNS columnist noted, “Ending the war on Israel’s terms—and bringing home its citizens alive—reclaims the moral narrative from those who cheered their suffering.”

Reactions across diplomatic channels were cautiously optimistic. At the United Nations, Israeli envoy Danny Danon declared that “the entire nation has been waiting for two years for the captives to return home.” In remarks cited in the JNS report, Danon praised both Netanyahu and Trump for their “unwavering determination and courage” while saluting the “bravery and sacrifice of our IDF soldiers who have fought tirelessly to bring back the hostages.”

Regional governments, meanwhile, appear to view the accord as a stabilizing pivot. Egypt, long a reluctant intermediary between Israel and Hamas, gains renewed prestige as host of the signing ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikh. Qatar, which has often faced criticism for sheltering Hamas’s leadership, now positions itself as an indispensable conduit for pragmatism. Turkey’s intelligence establishment, once openly hostile to Jerusalem, has moved cautiously toward alignment with Washington’s broader goals.

The JNS report observed that this multilateral choreography calls attention to an emerging geopolitical truth: that peace in the Middle East no longer requires moral equivalence but moral coherence. The new coalition—rooted in counterterrorism, economic modernization, and shared deterrence against Iran—embodies the regional realignment Trump envisioned during his first term.

Earlier this week, families of Israeli hostages submitted a formal letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee urging the body to award Trump the Nobel Peace Prize for “his efforts to broker peace in the Middle East.” As JNS reported, the plea carries rare bipartisan resonance within Israel, where Trump’s name has become synonymous with “strategic reliability” and “moral solidarity.”

While the Nobel Committee is famously circumspect about ongoing deliberations, the symbolism is undeniable: after years of skepticism toward Trump’s unconventional diplomacy, even critics acknowledge that he has managed what eluded decades of professional mediations—a deal accepted by both sides without coercion or capitulation.

For Israel, the work is far from complete. Even as it prepares for the hostages’ homecoming, questions remain about Gaza’s governance, reconstruction, and demilitarization. The IDF’s cautious redeployment signals not retreat but recalibration, preserving the right to re-enter Gaza should Hamas—or any successor entity—breach the new terms.

Still, the mood in Jerusalem is one of cautious exhale. After two years of relentless combat and international vilification, Israel stands on the threshold of a peace that affirms its sovereignty rather than undermines it. The JNS report framed it aptly: “This is not the peace of exhaustion or concession; it is the peace of perseverance—the peace of a nation that has fought, bled, and prayed for redemption.”

As dawn breaks over Sharm el-Sheikh, world leaders and diplomats will gather beneath the Red Sea sun to witness what could be the most unlikely handshake of the decade. Trump will call it vindication. Netanyahu will call it deliverance. And across Israel, families will call it homecoming.

Two years after the horror of October 7th, Israel has not merely survived—it has rewritten the terms of its survival.