Hostage deal is almost done, Trump says; 33 hostages set to be released in first stage

With Israeli officials confirming negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas have reached “advanced stages,” incoming U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects an announcement in the coming days.  

“I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week, but it has to take place,” he told Newsmax in an interview on Tuesday.

He also reiterated his threats that if a deal were not reached by the time he takes office on Jan. 20, “there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there – a lot of trouble like they have never seen before. They will get it done.”

According to i24 News, Israel’s leadership expects a possible announcement of a deal as soon as today, after a high-level meeting set to take place in Qatar.

Meanwhile, a “political source” told Israeli news outlets that “Israel will not transfer the body of arch-terrorist Sinwar to Hamas as part of the deal. It won't happen, period.”

An Israeli official briefed local media outlets that there has been “progress in all the elements of the agreement’s formula, optimal conditions have been created for the existence of a deal that until now, could not be reached.”

According to the official, the deal will include several stages. In the first days of the first stage, 33 so-called “humanitarian” hostages will be released. This includes women (civilians as well as soldiers), children, adults over 50, and wounded and sick hostages.

Of those 33, none has so far been officially determined dead, but they include some who Israeli officials fear might have died in captivity. Despite repeated demands, Hamas has not informed Israel who among the 33 is alive and who is dead, but Israel is said to estimate that most of them are still alive.

Israel will not commit to a final end of the war and will have the right to restart the fighting at the end of the first stage. On the 16th day of the first stage, negotiations are set to begin regarding the second phase, during which Israel is demanding the release of all other hostages, without further stages.

Meanwhile, Israel will pull back its forces from the Gaza Strip without a complete withdrawal. Troops will gradually pull back from the urban areas but remain in a “buffer strip” on the enclave’s perimeter to protect Israeli towns on the border.

Regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain there at first but later withdraw partially, while “security arrangements,” most probably with Egypt, will ensure the security of the border area.

Additional “arrangements” were reached for the Netzarim Corridor, dividing the strip into two. The IDF will withdraw from there and allow all Gazans to return north but will prevent armed men and weapons from entering the northern part, through arrangements that were not specified yet.

The main price Israel will pay in the deal is the release of hundreds of convicted terrorists. According to the officials, the exact numbers are as of yet unclear, as they depend on the number of live hostages released.

While Israel agreed to free “heavy” terrorists with blood on their hands, they will not be released in Judea and Samaria. Terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 invasion and massacre will also not be released.

According to an unconfirmed report by the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, those set to be released include 200 terrorists who are serving life sentences, as well as 1,000 Gazans who were arrested during the war but didn’t participate in the Oct. 7 invasion.

The deal also includes a significant increase in the supply of humanitarian aid, logistics supplies, and equipment.

The political source who gave the briefing asserted: “We are keeping significant assets in our hands for the continuation of the negotiations - both geographic assets, and terrorists who remain in our hands and will not be released until the last of the hostages return home.”