WASHINGTON — The Israeli government approved the first phase of President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza, paving the way for the release of Hamas-held hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

"The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased," the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement.

The approval of the initial stage of the plan represents a milestone in the effort to bring the two-year war to a close and came after hours of debate by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet on Oct. 9 and a presentation by Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal on Oct. 8, with Trump announcing it on social media.

"This means that 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," Trump wrote at the time.

The first phase of Trump's plan called for the release of Israeli hostages within 72 hours of an agreement being reached in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Trump did not spell out what phase 2 of the deal would look like on Oct. 9 but he said the next stage would follow the 20-point plan that he shared.

"There will be disarming, there will be pullbacks, there will be a lot of things that are happening," Trump said. "I think you could end up with peace in the Middle East."

The agreement comes after multiple failed attempts to defuse the two-year-old war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage.

Israel's response to the attack has drawn increasing criticism worldwide, including a United Nations report issued in September that concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel's military campaign in response has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

At a White House Cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the peace plan came together as a direct result of Trump's meeting with Arab leaders at the United Nations on Sept. 23 and a Sept. 29 conversation with Netanyahu at the White House, during which the Israeli leader threw his support behind the peace agreement.

Rubio said hostages could be released as soon as this weekend.

Trump is expected to visit the Middle East in the next several days and said on Oct. 9 that he would address the Israeli Knesset if he were invited.

Hostages are likely to begin to be released on Monday, Oct. 13, although they could be returned sooner, U.S. officials have said. Of the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to be alive.

The U.S. knows where most of the living hostages are, Trump said at an Oct. 9 Cabinet meeting. "The bodies are a bigger problem, because some of the bodies are going to be a little bit hard to find," the president said of the roughly 28 who are assumed to be deceased.

He also said the U.S. would be working with "immensely wealthy countries" to rebuild Gaza. He declined to take a stance on an independent Palestinian state, telling journalists during his Cabinet meeting, "I don't have a view, I'm going to go with what they agree to."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israeli government approves hostage-release phase of Trump peace plan

Reporting by Zac Anderson and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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