Hamas and other Palestinian factions agreed to a framework for the Gaza ceasefire deal on Wednesday evening, a senior Hamas official and a second source close to the Palestinian negotiating team told Drop Site. “From our side, yes,” the Palestinians reached an agreement, the Hamas official said, but added they needed to “finalize some points” with the mediators. “It’s over, it’s over. It’s been decided,” the second source said. “Everybody’s agreed on it. There are a few things that will be discussed, but it’s over.”
Mediators, the source close to the negotiators said, told the Palestinian side that President Donald Trump planned to personally announce a permanent ceasefire and had offered assurances that the U.S. would not permit Israel to resume the war after retrieving the Israeli captives.
“We have a great team over there, great negotiators. And there are unfortunately great negotiators on the other side also,” said Trump Wednesday. “But it’s something I think will happen—got a good chance of happening…. Our final negotiation is with Hamas and it seems to be going well.” Soon after he made those remarks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked up to Trump and handed him a sheet of paper. “I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East and they’re going to need me pretty quickly.”
Thirty-seven minutes after this story was first published, Trump announced a deal had been reached. “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. 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!” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a post referring to the Israeli captives held in Gaza: “With God’s help we will bring them all home.” In a subsequent post, he added, “Tomorrow I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all our dear hostages home.”
Qatar, along with Egypt, has been the main mediator in the ceasefire negotiations. “An agreement was reached on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement posted on X.
Multiple sources from Hamas and other Palestinian factions have told Drop Site that their central concern in these negotiations was that handing over all Israeli captives would remove nearly all of their leverage if it did not include a complete Israeli withdrawal. Israel has, as a matter of policy, systematically violated its ceasefire agreements with Hamas and also with Lebanon. In entering into these negotiations, Hamas negotiators accepted they were engaging in a high-stakes gamble.
“This is a risk, but we trusted President Trump to be the guarantor of all the commitments made,” said Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas leader, in an interview with Drop Site on Monday. “Had there been no commitment from the American president, we would never have agreed to take the risk, because we do not trust Netanyahu or his extremist right‑wing team in the current Israeli government.”
The Palestinian negotiators, after consultations with a range of factions, agreed to a deal that will keep Israeli forces in Gaza even after all Israeli captives are handed over to Israel. Throughout the negotiations over the past several months, Hamas has insisted it would not enter into a deal that did not include the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces. “This is something they were not able to move,” the source said. While the exact lines that Israeli forces will redeploy to as part of the exchange of captives are still being worked out, Israeli forces will remain entrenched in Gaza.
The source close to the negotiators said “Trusting [Trump’s] word is the gamble they are taking. If it works, they will be considered geniuses. If it fails, they will be considered fools. It’s as simple as that.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ON DROPSITE NEWS
