Israel ratifies ceasefire deal, Hamas prepares to release 48 hostages

Israel’s government approved a ceasefire framework with Hamas on Thursday night, marking a potential end to a two-year conflict that killed tens of thousands and destabilised the Middle East.

The cabinet authorised “the framework for the release of all the hostages – both the living and the deceased” late Thursday evening. Celebrations erupted across Israel and Gaza, though many Palestinians expressed anxiety that the deal might collapse, according to a Guardian report.

US President Donald Trump announced that 48 hostages held by Hamas would be released on “Monday or Tuesday”. Less than half are thought to remain alive. Trump declared the deal had “ended the war in Gaza”.

Celebrations erupt in Tel Aviv and Gaza despite lingering anxiety

Thousands filled a Tel Aviv square that has become the focal point for hostage campaign supporters. Many sang and danced whilst waving Israeli and American flags.

“It feels like we can finally see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel we have all been walking through,” Einav Kahila, a 25-year-old student from Jerusalem told The Guardian. “There’s a lot of anxiety, also, because we’re always feeling unsure or insecure about the situation”.

Einav Zaugauker, whose son Matan remains among the last hostages, struggled to contain her emotions. “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t explain what I’m feeling … it’s crazy,” she told Guardian reporters.

In Gaza, reactions proved more muted despite pockets of celebration. Warplanes and drones continued flying overhead as residents processed the news.

Ola Al-Nazli, 47, learned of the ceasefire from neighbours in al-Muwasi, a crowded coastal strip sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.

“I did not know how to feel, whether to be happy or sad. We have experienced this many times before, and each time we were disappointed again,” she said.

US to deploy 200 troops to monitor ceasefire implementation

The United States will send approximately 200 troops to Israel to support and monitor the ceasefire implementation, officials announced Thursday night.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that nobody would be forced to leave Gaza under the deal’s terms. “No, it’s just the opposite,” he said. “This is a great plan.”

Trump’s announcement of his “peace proposal” last week triggered intensive indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. The US president said Thursday he would attempt to attend the signing ceremony in Egypt. Israeli officials suggested Trump might visit Israel on Sunday.

Trump dispatched his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to the region. Both reportedly arrived in Israel on Thursday night.

Israel to control 53% of Gaza Strip after troop withdrawal

Israeli forces will withdraw to an agreed line that leaves them controlling 53% of Gaza Strip territory, an Israeli government spokesperson confirmed.

Confusion emerged Thursday regarding the first phase’s timing. Netanyahu’s office stated the ceasefire would begin once the government ratified the agreement.

However, a government spokesperson said it would take effect within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting. Hostages believed alive would then be freed within 72 hours.

Israel will release approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The spokesperson confirmed that Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah figure hugely popular in the West Bank and Gaza, would not be among those freed.

Hamas sources said the prisoner list remained under discussion late Thursday.

Hamas called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire.

Exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said Thursday the group received guarantees from the United States, Arab mediators and Turkey that the Gaza war has permanently ended, according to Reuters.

Hamas rejects Trump’s proposal for US-led Gaza administration

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby on Thursday that the Palestinian militant group rejects Trump’s proposal for an interim “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s administration, headed by the US president himself.

UN agencies said they stood ready to rush aid into Gaza, where experts declared a famine in August.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “To turn this ceasefire into real progress, we need more than the silencing of the guns”.

He called for safe access for humanitarian workers, removal of bureaucratic obstacles to swift aid delivery, rebuilding of Gaza’s shattered infrastructure and funding to meet immense needs.

World leaders welcomed the breakthrough, though most of Trump’s broader “peace proposal” has yet to be negotiated or explicitly acknowledged by Hamas and Israel.

Negotiators closed gaps between Hamas and Israel over details of the first phase of the 20-point plan Trump announced. However, it remains unclear whether the parties discussed thornier questions, such as how Hamas will be disarmed, as Israel demands, and Gaza’s eventual governance.

Successful completion would mark Trump’s biggest foreign policy achievement since taking office in January. He promised to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, only to confront obstacles and complexities he had apparently not foreseen.

Though huge challenges remain, the agreement brings the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, and reshaping the Middle East.

Israel reduced its military campaign’s intensity in recent days. Gaza medical authorities reported eight people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday.

Even if aid surges through the UN and Red Crescent as Trump’s plan specifies, hundreds of thousands will still lack sufficient food or shelter.

Hamas attacks in October 2023 killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in 251 hostages taken. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 67,000 people, mostly civilians, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

(information from The Guardian)