Hamas says ready to release all Israeli captives

[Twiglets1]

Reported in Al Jazeera:

The Palestinian group says that, in order to end Israel’s war on Gaza and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave, it is ready to release all Israeli captives – both those who are living and dead – according to the exchange plan outlined in Trump’s proposal.

“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement shared on Telegram.

It also said it agrees to hand over the administration of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats, “based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”.

“Other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are connected to a unified national position and relevant international laws and resolutions,” Hamas said.

They “will be addressed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly”.

www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/10/3/live-israel-blows-up-gaza-city-homes-as-palestinians-ordered-to-flee

Thank God 🙏

I'll believe it when I see it.

Let’s hope so 🤞

Me too, but here's hoping...

Also being reported by Reuters and the Daily Mail:

Hamas AGREES to hand over all hostages under Trump peace plan for Gaza: Terrorists praise president

The militants also praised Trump in their announcement stating, 'Hamas appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts, as well as the efforts of US President Donald Trump, calling for stopping the war on the Gaza Strip, exchanging prisoners, immediate entry of aid, rejecting the occupation of the Strip, and rejecting the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15160665/Hamas-AGREES-Trump-peace-plan-Gaza.html

An analyst from The Economist on LBC reckons Hamas are just playing games and the conditions they've placed means they're agreeing to a completely different peace plan that was presented to them

The Telegraph report:

Sources earlier suggested that Hamas was divided over Mr Trump’s plan, with different factions pushing for unconditional approval and a ceasefire to be underwritten by mediators, and other groups wanting more clarification on how the broad framework would be implemented.

The group must also navigate a geographical split between commanders on the ground in Gaza and its senior leadership based in the Qatari capital Doha.

Murmurings from Gulf capitals earlier in the day suggested Hamas may come under pressure from Arab leaders to accept the deal in the interests of regional stability and economic growth.

The Palestinian cause has long been an article of faith in the Arab world. But Saudi Arabia, for example, had signalled it was willing to consider normalising relations with Israel and build economic ties, until the Gaza war derailed talks.

Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian foreign minister, said: “The mood is to welcome the Trump initiative because of the general atmosphere of pessimism in the Middle East.”

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/10/03/trump-gives-hamas-until-sunday-6pm-to-accept-his-gaza-peace/

https://www.thejournal.ie/hamas-agrees-to-trumps-plan-6834853-Oct2025/

Great news. Please God the living will be home with their families soon and there will be some peace for those families who will have bodies returned

Hamas say a lot of things.

and specialise in psychological torture 😞

It's not over until it's over but the prospect of peace is one step closer.

It's a significant step I hope for everyone affected.

I sincerely hope this is not Hamas doing their psychological warfare efforts to raise the hopes of the hostage families and the rest of Israel before destroying them, or harming the hostages, in retaliation for the peace plan which Trump has said will go ahead with or without them.

The inevitable, and misguided, anger at Trump and Netanyahu will be very worthwhile to Hamas.

Either that or Hamas leaders in Gaza have been offered something not in the peace plan.

Let's hope it's just money and the hostage's torment, and that of the families, can start coming to an end.

The inevitable, and misguided, anger at Trump and Netanyahu will be very worthwhile to Hamas

It wouldn't be the first time Hamas played this exact game

I think it's positive, in that there is a willingness to negotiate. The difficulty is there are effectively 3 deals in the table now. The one agreed by the 8 Middle Eastern countries, the one agreed by Trump and Netenyahu and the one agreed to by Hamas.

The sensible thing would be to negotiate between those terms, put aside the terms that all parties agree to - return of hostages, cessation of violence, and in the interim Gaza being governed by someone other than Hamas.

The trickier parts are (1) extent and timing of withdrawal (2) path to 2 state solution (3) disarmament of Hamas but ideally not leaving Gaza totally vulnerable (4) the make up - and chair, of the governance (5) how the land will be returned to Gazans.

I'd like to think that with everyone at the negotiating table, and a genuine desire for peace (which I'm not sure exists on any side frankly, but one can hope!), something can be agreed.

I just hope no one does anything stupid, on either side, to jeopardise this slither of hope. No terrorist attack on Israel, no incendiary comments from Israel about the future.

Best of luck to them.

I think Hamas had run out of people supporting them with almost the whole world telling them to accept the deal (even if further negotiations will be done) or be isolated.

I also imagine they are scared of Trump because he's so unpredictable.

I agree that everyone must stay very calm now and no incendiary comments from either side. This seems like the closest we have come to peace and it will be heart-breaking if it gets messed up by someone saying/doing something stupid that starts it all up again.

If that was the case they'd have accepted the deal as it was set out. Not agree but then set out terms not included in the plan

My money is on them playing games and when the plan inevitably falls through Trump and Netanyahu will be blamed. Look at how it's already being framed - Hamas have agreed to release the hostages. Very little about how they've changed the terms

I'm just worried about the price they will put on this, thinking back to Gilad Shalit being exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian/Arab Israeli prisoners.

Well time will tell.

Hamas knows it will end badly for them if a deal can’t be agreed quickly.

It does feel like an attempt at shifting blame. I feel like their advisors know what matters re international condemnation or not.

Not sure what will happen.

I don't think they're scared of Trump at all.

They have nothing to lose now and to cause more pain to Israel on their way out will be fully supported by their global cheer leaders.

These are not normal human beings, as should have been evident in their achievements on Oct 7th and the death and suffering they have inflicted on their own people, and they don't feel fear as they are fully willing to die as martyrs and get their 72 virgins in paradise.

This

I can’t see Israel agreeing to this

Can you see Hamas contributing responsibly? I'm trying to picture it! 😬

I think it depends on what you mean by Hamas.

The organisation has long been split into a military and non-military wing. Do we just mean the militants? What about those on the civil side? What about those who ran, for example, the prisons, organised the bin collections?

There's going to be thousands of people that technically were on Hamas payroll, who have nothing themselves to do with terrorism. In the same way, people that work in the public sector here and aren't necessarily loyal to our government, or the labour party.

Whilst I think it's clear for all to see, is that those involved in terrorism, and the militant side cannot have a role in governance, those that were technically Hamas but in effect in the civil service equivalent, running public services, I don't think should be banned automatically. Otherwise you lose the expertise of a lot of people.