Netanyahu hopes Gaza hostages return home in coming days

US President Donald Trump has said that a "withdrawal line" in the Gaza Strip had been agreed by Israel and that the fighting would end "immediately" once Hamas has confirmed.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump also said that once there was a ceasefire "the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal."

He added that the ceasefire would bring forward the end of the conflict, which he called a "3,000-year CATASTROPHE."

Trump posted a picture of a map of Gaza marked with a yellow line drawn within the Palestinian territory.

His latest social media post comes as Trump has hiked up the pressure on Hamas to accept his peace deal or "be hunted down, and killed" as he threatened on Friday.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday pressed both the militant group Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to work toward accepting the plan he proposed for the future of Gaza.

DW spoke to people at the weekly Saturday night protest near the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem about their views on the peace plan and whether it will lead to a ceasefire and the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

"I can only hope. We're really hoping," said Ana Ben-Gal, a student who has come to the protests every week. "It looks like Trump has lost his patience, which is good because it makes us move forward. I hope [Netaynahu] doesn't have a choice anymore, and that he has to go through with it."

Yaakov Kalv, who attends the protests twice a month, said whether Netanyahu sticks to the plan depends on Trump.

"If Trump will push hard, I think he [Netanyahu] will," Kalv said. "In the previous times, like Bibi [a common nickname for Benjamin Netanyahu] was playing around, and I don't think that he was really sincere. This time, if Trump will push him to the edge in a certain sense, he will. Will he also end the war? I hope so, but I'm not sure."

For Maya Benbenishty, a young woman who lives in the neighborhood and said she attends the protests to support the hostages' families, sticking to a deal that sees the hostages released is Netanyahu's chance to leave a positive legacy of his time in office.

"I really hope [Netanyahu] feels he doesn't have any other choice," Benbenishty said. "He always speaks about himself saying that his dream is to be remembered like Winston Churchill. I think this is his last chance to do something positive and to go down in history as someone who did something positive. It's his last chance to do something good in his life."

Egypt's Foreign Ministry said that representatives from Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas have been invited for talks on Monday to discuss the exchange of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.

"In the framework of the continuous Egyptian efforts in cooperation with mediators, and seeking an end to the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, Egypt is hosting two delegations from Israel and the Hamas movement on Oct 6," a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry went on to say that the purpose of the meeting would be to look into the details surrounding the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians prisoners as per US President Donald Trump's proposal.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, has been a key mediator in the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to have all hostages held in Gaza back home in the coming days.

"I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages... during the Sukkot holidays," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

He went on to say that "military and diplomatic pressure" had compelled Hamas to agree to release the captives.

The Jewish festival of Sukkot will be celebrated this year from October 6 to October 13. 

He added that the Hamas militant group would be disarmed. 

"Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised — either the easy way or the hard way, but it will be achieved," he said.

Netanyahu also said he has sent an Israeli delegation to Egypt "to finalize technical details," adding that "our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days."

According to the new US plan for peace in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave should be run by a "Board of Peace."

Only two names are mentioned in the new US plan for the board so far — US President Donald Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Blair, who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, has been described by some as a "war criminal."

Read more to find out why the idea of Blair overseeing Gaza's reconstruction has sparked criticism.

Two US envoys are traveling to Egypt on Saturday to discuss the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

The White House said the envoys — President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff — are expected to finalize details on the release of hostages and discuss Trump's push for peace.

Egyptian state media, meanwhile, reported that Hamas and Israel would engage in indirect talks in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to secure the release of hostages and detainees.

Al-Qahera News, which is closely linked to Egypt's intelligence service, reported that the Israeli and Hamas delegations "have begun moving to launch talks in Cairo tomorrow and the day after, to discuss arranging the ground conditions for the exchange of all detainees and prisoners, in accordance with Trump's proposal."

US President Donald Trump has warned the Hamas militant group that he will not tolerate delays when it comes to acting on his proposal for the future of Gaza.

"I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!" Trump said.

Hamas on Friday said it accepted some elements of Trump's Gaza plan and that it was prepared to release all Israeli hostages.

It also said it was prepared to enter into immediate negotiations to clarify the precise details.

Hamas expressed support for parts of Trump's Gaza peace plan but says key elements need more negotiation.

The militant group has "legitimate concern in terms of the detailing" to make some of the plan's principles operational, Sultan Barakat, public policy expert at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, told DW.

Watch the whole interview here:

 

Supporters of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Saturday filled the streets in several major cities in Europe, including Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Rome and Athens.

The demonstrations come after Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza and detained its activists seeking to break Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory. Many of those who participated in the flotilla have been deported (see entry below).

Pro-Palestinian protests have been a near-daily occurrence in multiple cities in Italy, including Rome, Milan and Naples, since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a similar rally in Barcelona drew tens of thousands of people.

Police estimated that 70,000 demonstrators were marching peacefully through Barcelona's city center.

Rallies were also planned Saturday afternoon in other Spanish cities, including Madrid.

After Hamas responded positively to US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, DW asked displaced Palestinians in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza how they feel about the latest developments.

28-year-old Areej Ayoush is optimistic. "I believe this time there will be a ceasefire, in my view, because people are exhausted now."

On Friday, Hamas announced it was prepared to release all Israeli hostages. The Islamist militant group also said it was prepared to enter into immediate negotiations to clarify the precise details.

However, Lina Taha doubts Hamas' response will lead to a breakthrough.

"A ceasefire is impossible, because for almost more than two years they've been talking in the same tone, the same refrain, that there will be a ceasefire, and it's always for nothing, they give us hope for nothing," she told DW.

Since the Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, several efforts to end the war have failed.

Another displaced Palestinian is also cautious this time. "Every time there is a 'but,' there are promises, but every time things get obstructed; every time we go back to war from the beginning, and we return to the suffering from the beginning," said Nour Al-Mubayyid.

In response to Hamas, Trump said he believes the militant group is "ready for a lasting peace."

Turkey and Israel confirmed Saturday that 137 activists are being flown to Istanbul after Israeli's navy stopped a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza.

The individuals include 36 Turks, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia and Jordan, according to Turkey's Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said the Turkish Airlines flight is expected to land sometime after 3:40 p.m. local time (1240 GMT/UTC).

Israel's Foreign Ministry also confirmed on X that the detained activists who "arrived under the guise of 'humanitarian aid'" had been deported to Turkey.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has described the current momentum in Gaza peace efforts triggered by the 20-point plan put forward by US President Donald Trump a "vital opportunity" to put a final stop to the bloody conflict in the Palestinian territory.

"This is a vital opportunity for all parties and influential states to pursue in good faith and stop — once and for all — the carnage and the suffering in Gaza, to flood the strip with humanitarian aid, and to ensure the release of the hostages and numerous detained Palestinians," his office said on X.

Iran has executed six death-row inmates on Saturday who it said carried out attacks in the country's southwest on behalf of Israel in which police officers and security forces were killed.

The prisoners were also accused of orchestrating bombings that hit sites around Khorramshahr in the restive Khuzestan province.
In June, Iran fought a war with Israel, after which Iranian security authorities cracked down on alleged collaborators with the country's archenemy. 

The men were identified as ethnic Arab separatists by Iran's Miza news agency, which is associated with the judiciary.

The Arab population of Khuzestan has long complained of discrimination by Iran's central government.

Mizan said the executions were carried out on Saturday morning in Khuzestan province.

A seventh man executed on Saturday was a Kurd, Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh, who was convicted of the 2009 assassination of Mamousta Sheikh al-Islam, a Sunni cleric in the Kurdish city of Sanandah.

Activists have previously said Khiyareh's conviction is questionable, as he was only 15 or 16 at the time the assassination took place and not arrested till he was 19. The conviction relied on confessions made under torture, they said.

According to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities have executed more than 1,000 people so far in 2025, the highest annual figure recorded by the organization in at least 15 years, and one they say is likely higher in view of the number of unreported executions.

A  Hamas ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has endorsed Hamas' agreement to some elements of a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.

"Hamas' (reaction) to Trump's plan represents the position of the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Islamic Jihad participated responsibly in the consultations that led to this decision," the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the second most powerful militant group in Gaza and also holds hostages taken in attacks on southern Israel it carried out with Hamas and other militants on October 7, 2023. It is considered more hard-line than its ally.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, on Friday accepted certain key parts of Trump's plan, including ending the war, Israel's withdrawal and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Israel, the US, the EU and others have designated both the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

The main Israeli group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza said on Saturday that the war must end immediately for the sake of the hostages' safety. 

"President Trump's demand to stop the war immediately is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

There are believed to be 48 hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza, with around 20 of them believed to still be alive. 

"We call on Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home," it added.