The New York Times - October 9, 2025 - What We Know About the Hostage Deal Between Israel and Hamas

 The New York Times 

October 9, 2025

What We Know About the Hostage Deal Between Israel and Hamas

President Trump announced an agreement had been reached, but it was unclear when the captives would be released or when more aid would enter the territory.

A seaside road in the Gaza Strip flanked by the ruins of buildings. Smoke rises in the background.

The route used by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to flee the most intense areas of the war, on Monday.Credit...Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Francesca RegaladoAaron Boxerman

By Francesca Regalado and Aaron Boxerman

Oct. 9, 2025

Updated 8:01 a.m. ET

Israel and Hamas have agreed to an exchange of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, President Trump announced on Wednesday. But as people across the Middle East woke up to news of the agreement on Thursday, many of the details were still unclear.

Mr. Trump said on social media that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that he presented at the end of September. The announcement was made following indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he would convene his cabinet on Thursday to sign off on the agreement. Hamas said the deal would lead to the end of the war and Israel’s withdrawal from the territory, and indicated that it would allow for more aid to enter Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu was expected to convene senior ministers at 5 p.m. local time before putting the proposal to a cabinet vote roughly an hour later, according to two Israeli officials who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Some of the most sensitive questions — such as whether Hamas would lay down its arms and who would run the Palestinian enclave after the war — still need to be worked out.

Nonetheless, many Palestinians and Israelis nonetheless celebrated the announcement that an accord had been reached, hoping it would finally end the conflict.

Here’s what we know:

The agreement covers an exchange of hostages and prisoners.

Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on the basis of the first phase of Mr. Trump’s peace plan, which the Trump administration publicly released in late September.

The plan says hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners are expected to be exchanged about three days after Israel formally ratifies the cease-fire. The roughly 20 living hostages are likely to be released on Sunday or Monday, according to an Israeli official, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive matters.

Israeli forces would also withdraw to an agreed-upon line, although the precise location has yet to be made public. Mr. Trump’s proposal contained maps showing Israeli withdrawal lines, but those appear to have been amended during the course of the negotiations, according to two Israeli officials and an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters.

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When Hamas launched the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the war, about 1,200 people were killed and roughly 250, mostly civilians, were taken hostage. Israel’s devastating military response has since killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including civilians and combatants, according to the Gaza health ministry. The war has also reduced much of the territory to ruins.

Under Mr. Trump’s plan, about 20 living Israeli hostages would be exchanged for 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israel and 1,700 Gazans detained during the war. The bodies of 15 Gazans would be returned for the remains of each Israeli.

Officials and analysts say that turning over the bodies of the roughly 25 hostages who were killed would likely be more complicated and take longer.

Video

Israel and Hamas Reach a Deal

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Celebrations broke out after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan on Wednesday. The agreement covers an exchange of hostages and prisoners.CreditCredit...Moti Milrod/Reuters

The deal is expected to allow more aid into Gaza.

Mr. Trump’s proposal called for an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been gripped by a hunger crisis for much of the war. Aid groups have blamed Israeli restrictions on food and other goods entering the enclave for the shortages, which led international monitors to declare a famine in parts of northern Gaza this summer. Israel has denied the characterization.

Hamas and Qatar indicated in their initial statements about the agreement that it would allow for more aid to flow. But the details were unclear.

An earlier, short-lived cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in January stipulated that hundreds of trucks ferrying supplies would enter the enclave each day.

It’s unclear whether Hamas will disarm.

For Mr. Trump’s full peace plan to work, diplomats and negotiators will probably need to resolve a crucial question: Will Hamas agree to give up its weapons?

Mr. Netanyahu has long insisted that he would not accept an agreement in which Hamas refuses to disarm. The Palestinian militant group has publicly rejected his demands that it do so.

Mr. Trump did not mention that issue in his social media post or in a television interview afterward, and there were no immediate public comments about it from Israel or Hamas.

Some Arab mediators negotiating an end to the war in Gaza believe that they can persuade Hamas to partially disarm, The New York Times reported this week.

Natan Odenheimerand Adam Rasgoncontributed reporting.

Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.

Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.

See more on: Hamas, Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, The Israel-Hamas War