Yesterday, Hamas seemingly agreed to release all the remaining hostages, whether dead or alive. However, there were strings attached. Hamas still wants to renegotiate the rest of the agreement. Trump seemed initially enthusiastic, but he’s already started telling Hamas that it had better not be playing games. And while Benjamin Netanyahu is talking terms, I remain suspicious.

I have a lawyerly approach to contract negotiations: A contract is formed when there’s an offer and an acceptance. Voila! Contract. However, when the response to change or reject all or some of the terms of the proposed agreement, there’s no contract. Instead, there’s a counteroffer, and you’re still negotiating.

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With that frame of mind, when Hamas announced that it was agreeing to release the hostages, but did not want to accept the other terms without further discussion, I did not see that as Hamas agreeing to the ceasefire. Heck, I didn’t even see that as an agreement to release the hostages anytime soon. To me, that was a counteroffer. The report from the Hamas-friendly BBC makes it very clear that the hostage release is contingent on a revised plan massaged to Hamas’s liking:

Hamas has agreed to release all the remaining Israeli hostages but says it wants further negotiations on a number of key points outlined in the US peace plan.

In a statement, the group said it agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump's proposal” - if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.

In other words, there’s no agreement at all.

Nevertheless, President Trump responded as if Hamas had agreed to release the hostages with no strings attached and, moreover, had agreed to do so imminently. To that end, he ordered Israel to stand down (and, yes, he can do that because Israel is dependent on Trump’s and America’s goodwill and weaponry, for which Israel pays, in an otherwise hostile world):

Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of 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.

Israel heard Trump’s message and promptly announced that Israel would temporarily stop actions in Gaza unless defensively necessary:

A senior Israeli official told ABC News on Saturday that the halt in the Israel Defense Force’s offensive activity in the Gaza Strip is intended to allow Hamas to begin organizing for the release of the hostages.

The official said this does not represent an official ceasefire that requires Hamas to return the hostages within three days, nor the beginning of a withdrawal. The official said the IDF may make tactical adjustments for the purpose of protecting its troops.

The official added that Israel is constantly examining what is happening on the ground and will not allow Hamas to take advantage of any pause in operations, carry out last-minute attacks or to strengthen their grip on the ground.

Now, if you’re a cynic, as I am, you don’t believe for a second that Hamas is planning to release the hostages before securing other terms that will allow it to fight another day. The hostages are Hamas’s most powerful defensive weapon. They are Gaza’s Iron Dome. Once it turns them over, it’s helpless.

Perhaps Trump realized that he might have been a bit credulous and naïve in accepting Hamas’s hostage release statement at face value. Thus, 18 hours after his initial Truth announcement about Hamas’s accepting the peace plan, Trump was back to warn Hamas that any delay in acting would be tantamount to rejecting the plan, freeing Israel to unleash its full military might:

I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed. Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!

Netanyahu added that Hamas has just a few days to go gently into the night or to be destroyed militarily:

Netanyahu: The US and Israel will limit the negotiations to just a few days. After that, Hamas will be dismantled, either militarily or politically. pic.twitter.com/sKu30fULx4

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 4, 2025

Having said that, Bibi seems optimistic that there may actually be a peace deal, with the hostages finally coming home, whether to be buried or reunited with their loved ones, and Gaza demilitarized:

Netanyahu: I hope that during Sukkot we’ll already be able to announce the return of all our hostages, with the IDF remaining deep inside the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/chdBHCDKzA

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 4, 2025

Netanyahu: "There were those who said that we would not be able to release all of our abductees without a full withdrawal from the Strip.

So I tell you - it will happen, soon." pic.twitter.com/mLN4HUcM1O

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 4, 2025

Netanyahu: "In the second phase, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized. This will happen either diplomatically through the Trump plan or militarily by us." pic.twitter.com/rvtfjvCAJZ

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 4, 2025

Again, I’m not optimistic. Both Trump and Netanyahu are speaking as if this is Hamas’s last chance to make a deal or die. All I can think of, however, is Basil Fawlty beating away at his broken car and screaming at his car that he’d had it and the car was in trouble:

The car won.