WASHINGTON – Israel and Hamas have agreed on terms to implement the first steps US President Donald Trump has proposed for settling their two-year war.

Their preliminary agreement is expected to result in Hamas returning all 48 of the hostages it still holds, roughly 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

Israel would release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw its military forces in Gaza to an agreed-upon line, and significant aid would flow into the territory.

While agreeing to release the hostages, Hamas has withheld its judgment on other aspects of

Mr Trump’s 20-point plan

, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted. In its most ambitious form, the plan envisions Hamas doing what it has said it would not: Surrendering.

That would mean agreeing to disarm and give up all power in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has ruled since 2007. Such a move, according to the plan, would precipitate an end to operations in Gaza by Israeli forces, their gradual replacement by international peacekeepers, and the rebuilding of the devastated territory.

Should Hamas refuse to surrender, the plan, which is short on specifics, calls for those steps to proceed in areas within the Gaza Strip that have been cleared of the group’s forces.

Apart from the exchange of hostages for prisoners, here’s what the plan entails:

The plan calls for Gaza to be demilitarised under the supervision of independent monitors with the aim of ensuring it can’t pose a threat to Israel in the future. The

war began with a Hamas ...