By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has announced what he described as a “breakthrough” in negotiations between the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas and the “Israeli” entity, signaling the first phase of a Gaza plan backed by Washington.

The White House last month unveiled a 20-point proposal intended to halt the genocidal war on Gaza. The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of captives and prisoners, the disarmament of Resistance fighters, and the withdrawal of “Israeli” occupation forces from the besieged Strip.

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said that Hamas had agreed to release all “Israeli” captives, while the “Israeli” entity had consented to pull back its forces from Gaza “to an agreed-upon line”.

He described the development as “the first steps toward a strong, durable and everlasting ‘peace’,” claiming personal credit for brokering the deal.

Trump expressed gratitude to mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey for facilitating the indirect talks, which have been taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, since Monday.

Earlier in the day, he hinted that he might travel to the Middle East soon, saying, “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually,” while boasting that the negotiations were “going along very well”.

Hamas, for its part, has framed the agreement as a move toward ending the brutal, US-backed “Israeli” war of extermination that has decimated Gaza since October 7, 2023. The onslaught, launched following the Resistance’s historic Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, has martyred over 67,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—while destroying homes, hospitals and infrastructure across the besieged enclave.

Local authorities and humanitarian organizations continue to decry the “Israeli” entity’s use of starvation, siege, and indiscriminate bombardment as tools of collective punishment. Despite this reality, Washington has continued to supply the occupying forces with weapons and diplomatic cover.

According to “Israeli” media, roughly 20 of the 48 remaining captives are believed to be alive. The humanitarian and political implications of the proposed agreement remain uncertain, with many warning that without enforcement mechanisms and accountability for war crimes, the plan risks serving as little more than a political lifeline for the occupiers and their American backers.