U.S. President Donald Trump has declared the launch of “Phase Two” of a multi-nation Gaza ceasefire deal, following the release of 20 Israeli hostages in the initial phase of the agreement brokered by the United States, Türkiye, Qatar, and Egypt.
“All twenty hostages are back and feeling as good as can be expected,” Trump announced via his platform, Truth Social. “A big burden has been lifted, but the job is not done. The dead have not been returned, as promised! Phase Two begins right now!!!”
The announcement comes after a high-stakes hostage-prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. Hundreds of Palestinian detainees, many held in Israel’s Ofer military prison and detention centers in the Negev Desert, were released in return for the safe return of 20 living Israeli hostages.
Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi convened a high-level summit Monday in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The summit gathered global leaders to secure international backing for the next stage of the U.S.-led Gaza ceasefire plan.
Phase two of the US deal calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza, the formation of a multinational force and the disarmament of Hamas.
Israeli attacks killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, since October 2023, leaving the enclave largely uninhabitable.
