Israeli ministers have approved President Donald Trump‘s ceasefire and hostage release plan in Gaza.
A short statement from the office of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased.”
The first phase of a ceasefire plan is now coming into effect, although several news outlets have reported there were overnight air strikes in Gaza. Local reports in Israel suggest it may take 24 hours for the ceasefire to take place. Trump is expected to travel to Israel on Sunday for a signing ceremony.
The agreement will see Israeli soldiers withdraw to a position that will leave Israel in control of just over half Gaza, which has been devastated by bombings over the past two years. The White House says there are two further stages of withdrawal to follow.
Once this has happened, Hamas will have 72 hours to return all of the 20 hostages taken on October 7 who are believed to be alive. The bodies of another 28 hostages will then be returned at a later date. In exchange, Israel will release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving their sentences in Israeli jails and another 1,700 who have been detained in Gaza, according to a BBC source in Gaza. Israel will also return the remains of 15 Gazans for every Israeli body.
After this, trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, where UN-backed experts confirmed a famine two months ago.
Netanyahu, whose actions in Gaza since the massacres of October 7 have been widely criticized, addressed his ministers today, calling the plan “a momentous development” and thanked President Trump and his team. Also at the press conference were Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, who had worked on the agreement.
More than 1,200 were killed when Hamas-backed militia fighters stormed Israel, with more than 250 taken prisoner. Negotiations for the release of all of the hostages has been ongoing for some time, with this being Israel’s main stated objective, alongside wiping out Hamas.
More than 67,000 have been killed in Gaza since Israel began an unrelenting bombing campaign in the territory, with 1.2 million people displaced and food scarcely available.
The Hamas Political Bureau also released a video statement saying the agreement would end the “war of aggression” and the parties involved would now “begin implementing a ceasefire.”
