Published: 2:54am, 10 Oct 2025Updated: 7:15am, 10 Oct 2025
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt and address the Israeli Knesset.
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Trump opened a White House cabinet meeting by discussing a deal reached on Wednesday under which the hostages held by Hamas militants are to be released in the first phase of a broader Gaza plan. He said he believed it would lead to “lasting peace.”
Trump said under the plan, Gaza is going to be “slowly redone”, a reference to plans to rebuild the Palestinian enclave. He did not provide details other than to say “we’re going to create something where people can live. You can’t live right now in Gaza.”
Israel’s government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas early on Friday morning, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held in Gaza within 72 hours after that.
“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said on social media.
Hamas is expected to release the 20 living hostages together.