Accept deal to release Gaza hostages

FE Team | Published: September 08, 2025 21:20:40

NEW YORK, Sept 08 (Reuters/AFP/AP): US President Donald Trump on Sunday issued what he called his "last warning" to Hamas, urging the Palestinian militant group to accept a deal to release hostages from Gaza.
"The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. "I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!"
Israel's N12 News reported on Saturday that Trump has put forth a new ceasefire proposal to Hamas.
Under the deal, Hamas would free all the remaining 48 hostages on the first day of the truce in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel and negotiate an end to the war during a ceasefire in the enclave, according to N12.
An Israeli official said Israel was "seriously considering" Trump's proposal but did not elaborate on its details.
Hamas ready to negotiate
after Trump warning
Hamas said Sunday it was ready to "immediately sit at the negotiating table" following what it described as "some ideas from the American side aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement".
Their statement came soon after US President Donald Trump said he had issued his "last warning" to Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in Gaza.
"The Hamas Movement welcomes any initiative that supports efforts to end the aggression against our people, and affirms its readiness to immediately sit at the negotiating table to discuss the release of all prisoners," the Palestinian militant group said.
Israel depriving Palestinian
prisoners of food, its
Supreme Court rules
In a rare wartime intervention, Israel's Supreme Court ruled Sunday that the government has denied Palestinian detainees even a minimum subsistence diet and directed authorities to provide more food of better quality to inmates.
The court's decision marks one of the few times the judiciary has challenged government actions during the 23-month Israel-Hamas war.
Since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israel has brushed aside mounting global criticism by insisting its measures are necessary to defeat Hamas.
Israeli forces have detained large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank over alleged militant links. Many were later released without charge after months in camps and prisons, reporting harsh conditions that included overcrowding, limited food, poor medical care and outbreaks of scabies.
There is a "narrow window" to prevent famine from spreading further in Gaza, a top UN official said on Sunday, calling on Israel to allow unimpeded aid delivery in the territory, where it is fighting Palestinian militant group Hamas.
According to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are already experiencing or at risk of famine in areas including Gaza City, the enclave's largest urban centre, where Israel has launched a new offensive against Hamas.
Israel, which stopped all aid for 11 weeks from March until mid-May, says it is doing more to let aid enter and be distributed in the enclave to prevent food shortages, though international agencies say far more is needed.
"There is a narrow window - until the end of September - to prevent famine from spreading to Deir al Balah (in central Gaza) and Khan Younis (southern Gaza). That window is now closing fast," said United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher.