Gaza declaration inked as Hamas sets hostages free

14 OCTOBER 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East [West Asia]” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners.
Hamas freed the last 20 surviving hostages it held after two years of captivity in Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.
All but 47 of those hostages were freed in earlier ceasefires.
In exchange, Israel released 1,968 mostly Palestinian prisoners held in its jails.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is also due to return the bodies of 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.
The U.S. President along with leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye signed the declaration as guarantors to the deal.
Among the potential sticking points are Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge full withdrawal from the devastated territory.