President-elect Donald Trump has suggested that the deal was reached because his election win “signaled to the world” that he would seek peace.
“I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He said that his team had “achieved so much without even being in the White House,” and his November election win had “signaled to the world” he would seek peace.
He added that his national security team and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East, would “continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”
His cousin Carmel Gat will not be one of the hostages to be freed, but Gil Dickmann told NBC News today that it was “very exciting to see that finally hostages are gonna come home.” Still, the news was bittersweet.
Gat, 40, was kidnapped from her parents’ home in kibbutz Be’eri. An occupational therapist from Tel Aviv, she was called a “guardian angel” by some of the hostages who were freed, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group for those held captive.
Her body was recovered in Gaza by the Israeli military in August.
Dickmann said it was “really sad to know that Carmel could have and should have been among them but a deal didn’t come in time and she was murdered in captivity.”
He also thanked President-elect Donald Trump for using his influence to secure the deal. “But this is only the beginning,” Dickmann added. “We urge him and call him to make sure that the Trump Deal doesn’t stop, and right after stage one we’ll have stage two releasing all the hostages. Leave no one behind.”
Amir Levy / Getty Images
People react to the reports of a possible hostage release deal in Tel Aviv.
Bashar Taleb / AFP – Getty Images
People celebrate as news spreads of a possible ceasefire in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
A ceasefire deal has been reached to end 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israeli officials and a source briefed on the negotiations told NBC News on Wednesday.
The hard-won agreement will also free dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, bringing the first real break in violence since a weeklong truce expired Dec. 1, 2023.
The new follows weeks of talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, amid a brutal winter for civilians in Gaza, as well as dramatic developments across the Middle East that have dealt setbacks to Iran, an Israeli foe.
Israel and Hamas have not officially announced a deal, although senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirmed to NBC News the militant group had agreed to it. Another source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Israeli official briefed on the deal also confirmed the news.
