'Give Trump Nobel Prize': Netanyahu after Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of peace deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Donald Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, hours after the US president announced a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

"Give @realDonaldTrump the Nobel Peace Prize -- he deserves it!" said a post on the official X account of the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could be a first step toward ending a bloody two-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East.


The agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework resulted from indirect talks in Egypt, just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza. Trump announced that both Israel and Hamas had signed off on the first phase of the plan and this would bring the release of all hostages, alive and dead, "very soon" and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the so-called yellow line in Gaza. According to a senior Israeli security source, that is a boundary for an initial Israeli pullback under the Trump plan.

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, that includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange, but the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire. There is no clear indication who will rule Gaza when the war ends. Netanyahu, Trump, Western and Arab states have ruled out a role for Hamas, which has run Gaza since driving out Palestinian rivals in 2007. Trump's original 20-point plan envisions a role for the Palestinian Authority but only after it has undergone major reforms.