Hamas says alive Israeli hostages to be exchanged for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners

Hamas says alive hostages will be exchanged for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. After US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of his plan for Gaza, Hamas said hostages, Palestinian prisoners would be exchanged within 72 hours of deal implementation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a written statement, referring to the hostages held by Hamas, "With God's help we will bring them all home." He said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.

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"With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home," he said in a statement. "This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel."

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Just a day after the second anniversary of the cross-border attack by Hamas militants that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange.

"We affirm that the sacrifices of our people will not be in vain, and that we will remain true to our pledge - never abandoning our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved," Hamas said.

The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, deepened Israel's international isolation and reshaped the Middle East.