President Trump made the news of the day with his announcement on Truth Social (at the bottome via the White House X feed). This is the text with my own comments interpolated:
I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.
The remaining live Israeli hostages and hostage corpses are to be turned over. What does Hamas get in exchange? I would say that Israel is swallowing the accustomed bitter pill. A top official within Hamas told AFP that Israel would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including 250 terror convicts serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war. The status of Hamas is presumably to be addressed in a subsequent phase of the deal. If Hamas is not extirpated or exiled, the released prisoners represent a substantial contribution to its future endeavors.
Trump continued:
All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.
Hamas is one of the parties. How is it to be treated? What would treating it fairly mean? Hamas has to go.
Trump continued:
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!
President Trump announced his peace deal at a joint media event in the White House on September 29 with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The president declared that peace was at hand for the “first time in thousands of years.” I thought that was a trifle messianic, to twist a phrase from the Rolling Stones. The quotation from the Sermon on the Mount prompts me to recall my concern about the September 29 announcement.
It has seemed to me that Israel’s goals of securing the hostages and eliminating Hamas were practically irreconcilable. That has proved true for the many hostages who have died in captivity. The ultimate status of Hamas in fact remains an open question.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan… BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/lAUxi1UPYh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 8, 2025
