JERUSALEM (BN24) — Israel’s Cabinet ratified a ceasefire agreement with Hamas early Friday morning, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within twenty-four hours and free Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave within seventy-two hours after that, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Israeli government approved the deal roughly twenty-four hours after mediators announced an agreement to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza.
“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu’s English-language X account stated.
The agreement represents the most significant step yet toward ending a conflict that has killed over sixty-seven thousand Palestinians and tested the U.S.-Israeli relationship, with Trump appearing to lose patience with Netanyahu and pressuring him to reach a deal. The war has deepened Israel’s international isolation and evolved into a regional conflict drawing in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the ceasefire would take effect within twenty-four hours of government approval. After that period, hostages held in Gaza would be freed within seventy-two hours.
Twenty Israeli hostages are believed to remain alive in Gaza, while twenty-six are presumed dead and the fate of two remains unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of deceased hostages may take longer than releasing those who are alive.
Under the terms of the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza and Hamas will free all remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. Fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid would be allowed into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and leveled entire cities.
Hamas exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said he had received guarantees from the United States and other mediators that the war was over.
The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt the war. However, significant hurdles remain. A Palestinian source said the list of Palestinians to be released was not finalized even after the deal was signed. The group is seeking freedom for some of the most prominent Palestinian convicts held in Israeli jails, as well as hundreds of people detained during Israel’s assault.
Further steps in Trump’s twenty-point plan have yet to be discussed, including how the shattered Gaza Strip is to be governed when fighting ends and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has rejected Israel’s demands that it disarm.
Netanyahu faces skepticism from within his governing coalition. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would vote to bring down the government if Hamas is not dismantled and would vote against the deal. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have long opposed any agreement with Hamas. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Hamas must be destroyed once the hostages are returned.
Despite political opposition, the announcement was greeted with jubilation by Israelis and Palestinians alike.
“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing,” said Abdul Majeed Abd Rabbo in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. “All of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed.”
Einav Zaugauker, whose son Matan is among the last hostages, rejoiced in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where families of those seized in the Hamas attack that triggered the war have long assembled.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t explain what I’m feeling … it’s crazy,” she said, speaking in the red glow of a celebratory flare.
In Gaza, Israeli attacks continued before the official start of the ceasefire, though there were far fewer fatalities than the scores killed daily in recent weeks. Local health authorities reported seven dead in two separate Israeli strikes.
Signs emerged of Israeli troops preparing to withdraw. An eyewitness near Nusseirat camp in central Gaza told Reuters that he had seen the Israeli army demolish an abandoned troop position and lower a crane used for surveillance. Near the Netzarim corridor, the main staging area for Israeli troops in central Gaza, the army fired dozens of smoke grenades, typically used to provide cover for troops on the move.
Trump said he would travel to the region Sunday to possibly attend a signing ceremony in Egypt. Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana invited him to address the legislative body, which would be the first such speech by a U.S. president since two thousand eight. Trump said he hoped the deal would lead to “an everlasting peace” in the region.
The deal received support from Arab and Western countries and was widely portrayed as a major diplomatic achievement for Trump, who cast it as a first step toward reconciliation in the wider Middle East. His special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and entered the Israeli government cabinet meeting called to ratify the deal.
Successful completion of the agreement would mark a significant accomplishment for the Republican president, who has struggled to quickly deliver on promises to bring peace to the Gaza conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Western and Arab countries met in Paris to discuss an international peacekeeping force and reconstruction assistance for Gaza once the fighting stops.
More than sixty-seven thousand Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas-led militants stormed through Israeli towns and a music festival on October 7, 2023, killing twelve hundred people and capturing two hundred fifty-one hostages.
While many questions remain about implementation, the sides appear closer than they have been in several months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza and ignited other armed conflicts across the Middle East.
