Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal to release all the remaining hostages held in Gaza as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the devastating two-year war in the strip.

Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Wednesday: “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 agreement marks a significant breakthrough in Trump’s renewed push to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated Gaza and triggered a wave of conflict across the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene his government on Thursday “to approve the agreement and bring all our beloved hostages home”.

The 48 hostages — 20 of whom are believed to be alive — are expected to be released about 72 hours after the Israeli government approves the deal, people briefed on the talks said.

Under the terms of Trump’s plan, Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange and allow a surge of aid into the besieged strip. Israel would also pull its troops back from front lines in Gaza in the first step of a phased redeployment.

Trump later told Fox News: “So much is happening to get the hostages freed and we think they’ll all be coming back on Monday.”

Netanyahu said it was “a great day for Israel”.

“I thank, from the bottom of my heart, President Trump and his team for their mobilisation for the sacred task of releasing our hostages,” Netanyahu said.

The agreement comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has been involved in drafting the plans, joined senior Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish negotiators in Egypt, where Israel and Hamas held indirect talks.

Qatar, one of the lead Arab negotiators, confirmed the deal, saying it would “lead to stopping the war, releasing Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners, and allowing aid to enter”.

However, significant challenges remain in getting the parties to agree on the details of the next phase of Trump’s 20-point plan, which calls for Hamas’s disarmament, the further withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force.

Hamas said in a statement that it had agreed to the first phase of the deal, while calling on Trump and Arab and Muslim states to compel Israel to “fully implement” the plan and “not allow it to evade or delay the implementation of what has been agreed upon”.

While Hamas has previously said it was willing to release the hostages, it has not said it would agree to disarm, which is one of the most contentious issues. It also wants to negotiate details of Israel’s troop withdrawal and the role of the international stabilisation force, a person briefed on the talks said.