Hamas agrees to release hostages; demands further negotiations

After an ominous warning from President Donald Trump, Hamas has reportedly agreed to release the remaining Israeli hostages; however, they have yet to agree to the president’s proposed 20-point peace plan.

The peace plan announced on Monday during a joint press conference between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was agreed to by the Jewish State, as well as several Arab and European countries.

In a Truth Social post, Trump told Hamas leaders that they have until 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, Washington, D.C. time, warning this is their last chance or “all HELL” will break loose.

The president warned Hamas that they will be hunted down, indicating that Israel is waiting for his approval to attack.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” the president posted.

In response, Hamas responded saying they are keen to “end the aggression and genocide being carried out against our steadfast people” in Gaza.

In a statement from the terror group, it referred to itself as the Islamic Resistance Movement, saying that it has “conducted in-depth consultations within its leadership institutions, broad consultations with Palestinian forces and factions, and consultations with brothers, mediators, and friends, in order to reach a responsible position in dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan.”

The group “made its decision” and issued a response through its mediators, by thanking the Arab, Islamic, and “international efforts, as well as the efforts” of Trump to bring an end to the war.

Hamas specified the “exchange of prisoners, the immediate entry of aid, the rejection of the occupation” of Gaza and “the rejection of the displacement of our Palestinian people from it.”

The 20-point plan calls for the return of the remaining surviving Israeli hostages within 72 hours of approval of the deal. It also calls for the return of Hamas prisoners.

“Within this framework, and in a manner that achieves an end to the war and a full withdrawal from the Strip, the movement announces its approval of releasing occupation prisoners – both living and remains – according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, with the necessary field conditions for implementing the exchange. In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter, through the mediators, into negotiations to discuss the details,” according to the group’s statement.

Hamas said that it approves the handing over of “administration” of Gaza to a “Palestinian body of independents (technocrats) based on Palestinian national consensus.” The group concluded its statement by demanding that Hamas “be included and will contribute with full responsibility” to the future of Gaza.

Any involvement by Hamas in the future of Gaza will likely be a sticking point to the deal, as it underscores that Hamas will have no role in the governance of Gaza, adding that regional partners will “ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations.”

However, it would ensure that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.

To oversee the success of the plan, the president said that if it is accepted, he would lead it.

Trump issued a response to Hamas on Friday afternoon, indicating the willingness by Hamas to negotiate promising.

“Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing in Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly! Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East,” the president posted to his Truth Social account.

Both Trump and Netanyahu warned the terror group of grave consequences if the deal is rejected.

“If Hamas rejects your plan … then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way. But it will be done. We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done,” the prime minister told reporters. Trump said that he would support Israel if Hamas failed to agree to peace,” Netanyahu said during Monday’s joint press conference.

Sarah Roderick-Fitch

Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

Related Topics:#TheCenterSquare HamasAgreesToReleaseHostages IsraelHamasWar SarahRoderickFitch TrumpHamas

Up Next

Inquiry discloses Canada providing a reported $2.5 million in aid to Chinese universities

Don't Miss

Bill C-9 and the Tyranny of Feeling Heading Straight for Canadians

Duane Rolheiser

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

Follow Author

Historic Return: NHL Confirms Player Participation in 2026 Winter Olympics

Dr John Campbell / 3 weeks ago

Cures for Cancer? A new study shows incredible results from cheap generic drug Fenbendazole

Environment / 4 weeks ago

The era of Climate Change Alarmism is over

Daily Caller

Trump Orders Review Of Why U.S. Childhood Vaccination Schedule Has More Shots Than Peer Countries

Published on December 6, 2025

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Emily Kopp

President Donald Trump will direct his top health officials to conduct a systematic review of the childhood vaccinations schedule by reviewing those of other high-income countries and update domestic recommendations if the schedules abroad appear superior, according to a memorandum obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“In January 2025, the United States recommended vaccinating all children for 18 diseases, including COVID-19, making our country a high outlier in the number of vaccinations recommended for all children,” the memo will state. “Study is warranted to ensure that Americans are receiving the best, scientifically-supported medical advice in the world.”

Trump directs the secretary of the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adopt best practices from other countries if deemed more medically sound. The memo cites the contrast between the U.S., which recommends vaccination for 18 diseases, and Denmark, which recommends vaccinations for 10 diseases; Japan, which recommends vaccinations for 14 diseases; and Germany, which recommends vaccinations for 15 diseases.

Dear Readers:

As a nonprofit, we are dependent on the generosity of our readers.

Please consider making a small donation of any amount here.

Thank you!

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a critic of the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule.

The Trump Administration ended the blanket recommendation for all children to get annual COVID-19 vaccine boosters in perpetuity. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary and Chief Medical Officer Vinay Prasad announced in May that the agency would not approve new COVID booster shots for children and healthy non-elderly adults without clinical trials demonstrating the benefit. On Friday, Prasad told his staff at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research that a review by career staff traced the deaths of 10 children to the COVID vaccine, announced new changes to vaccine regulation, and asked for “introspection.”

Trump’s memo follows a two-day meeting of vaccine advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which the committee adopted changes to U.S. policy on Hepatitis B vaccination that bring the country’s policy in alignment with 24 peer nations.

Total vaccines in January 2025 before the change in COVID policy. Credit: ACIP

The meeting included a presentation by FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director Tracy Beth Høeg showing the discordance between the childhood vaccination schedule in the U.S. and those of other developed nations.

“Why are we so different from other developed nations, and is it ethically and scientifically justified?” Høeg asked. “We owe our children science-based recommendations here in the United States.”

Energy

Senate votes to reopen Alaska Coastal Plain to energy leasing

Published on December 6, 2025

Todayville

From The Center Square

By Alton Wallace

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to overturn a Biden-era policy that restricted oil and gas drilling in most of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain, advancing a Trump administration effort to open the area to energy development.

In a 49-45 vote, the Senate passed a resolution overturning a 2024 Interior Department plan that would have limited oil and gas lease sales to about 400,000 acres within the 1.56-million-acre Arctic Wildlife Refuge. One Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, voted with Democrats to oppose the resolution. The legislation is now on the president’s desk awaiting signature.

Federal lease sales in Alaska will now revert to a framework developed in 2020 by the Trump administration that had opened most of the Coastal Plain to oil and gas development. In October, the Interior Department said it would move to restore lease sales to the entire Coastal Plain as part of Trump’s U.S. energy dominance agenda.

The president’s One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July, includes provisions mandating six oil and gas lease sales in the Cook Inlet Planning Area in Alaska’s federal waters between 2026 and 2032, compared to two auctions covering the same area during the Biden administration.

Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation introduced and cosponsored the legislation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said after the vote that a return to “balanced management” on the Coastal Plain will support U.S. energy independence.

Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, a group formed in 1988 by Alaska Natives opposed to oil drilling on the Coastal Plain, said the Senate vote ignored local concerns. The group has said the Coastal Plain is a critical habitat for Porcupine caribou.

“This action from DC ignores years of consultation and communication with our Gwich’in communities that rely on this landscape for not only our subsistence and survival, but also our culture and spiritual health and well-being,” Moreland said on the group’s website. “We stand united in our opposition to any oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge and will continue to fight this effort from the Trump administration and decision-makers who ignore our voices.”

Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, also said the vote prioritizes energy production over wildlife protections.

Groups supporting the push to open the Refuge to energy production include Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, whose members include leaders living in the North Slope region; Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp, the village corporation for Kaktovik, the only community located within the coastal plain; and North Slope Borough, a local government organization in Alaska that supports resource development to fund essential services like schools, infrastructure and emergency services.

As mandated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2017, the first-ever lease sale of tracts in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.

Seven of the nine bids accepted at the 2021 auction went to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state-owned corporation, but those leases were canceled by the Biden administration in September 2023.

In March 2025, a U.S. District Court judge ruled the Biden administration had failed to follow the congressionally mandated procedure before canceling the leases, and ordered the Interior Department to vacate the cancelation.