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Phase one of the peace deal with Gaza will start after approval by the Israeli cabinet
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Phase one of the peace deal with Gaza will start after approval by the Israeli cabinet

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The Israeli government has endorsed a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, paving the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held in Gaza within 72 hours afterwards.
“The government has now approved the plan for the release of all hostages – the living and the fallen,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s X account said.
Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya has said he received assurances from the US and other mediators that the war was over.
Meanwhile, Trump said he planned to leave for the Middle East later this week, hoping to travel to Israel, where he has been invited to address parliament, and perhaps Egypt.

“The hostages will be back Monday or Tuesday. I will probably be there, I hope to be there,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to the hostages taken by Hamas during the October 2023 attack on Israel.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi earlier said he had invited his US counterpart to take part in a “celebration to be held in Egypt” for the agreement on the first phase of a ceasefire.
Despite celebrations in Israel and Gaza and a flood of messages from world leaders hailing the deal, numerous issues remain uncertain, including the plan’s call for Hamas to disarm and a proposed Gaza transition authority led by Trump himself.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian Islamist movement has rejected the latter.

“No Palestinian would accept this. All factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,” Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby.

Trump said the issue of Hamas surrendering weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan.
“There will be disarmament,” he told reporters, adding that there would also be “withdrawals” by Israeli forces.
“No one will be forced to leave. No, it’s just the opposite. This is a great plan,” Trump said.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is facing opposition from his far-right allies.
Israel The far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir previously said he would vote against the deal, calling the plan to give thousands of Palestinian prisoners and those held in administrative detention in exchange for the 47 hostages left in Gaza “an unbearably high price.”
An Israeli government spokesman said the ceasefire would come into effect within 24 hours of the government’s approval of the deal. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza would be released within 72 hours.
Twenty Israeli hostages are believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead could take longer than releasing the living.
Under the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza and Hamas will release all remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel.

Fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid could rush into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have sheltered in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and reduced entire towns to dust.

The US will deploy troops but will stay out of Gaza, officials say

The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, without any Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US officials said on Thursday.
The task force will facilitate the flow of aid to Gaza, including security assistance and humanitarian aid, said the officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The officials said the 200 U.S. troops would form the core of a task force that would include representatives from the Egyptian military, Qatar, Türkiye and probably the United Arab Emirates.

While the exact location of U.S. forces had yet to be determined, officials said they would develop a joint control center and integrate other security forces working in Gaza to coordinate with Israeli forces to prevent clashes.
“There is no intention for US troops to enter Gaza,” one of the officials said.

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