Israel and Hamas took a historic first step towards peace on Thursday, signing an agreement for a ceasefire, hostage exchange and partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Donald Trump said he hoped to visit the Middle East in the coming days and that hostages would be released at the start of next week, as the region dared to hope for an end to the violence after two unprecedented and bloody years.
The armistice notably only secures agreement for the “first phase” of a more comprehensive peace deal, and large knots – including agreement on a two-state solution – remain to be untangled.
As part of the deal, expected to be ratified by Benjamin Netanyahu’s ministers late on Thursday, Israel will halt its operations and partly withdraw troops from Gaza, leaving space for Hamas to begin the process of releasing the remaining hostages, and for Israel, in turn, to release Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Trucks carrying food and aid will also be allowed to surge into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces razed much of the enclave.
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A source familiar with the negotiations told The Independent that Hamas would start releasing the 20 hostages believed to still be alive as soon as Sunday and as many as five aid crossings would be opened to deliver badly needed supplies. Discussions on a second stage of the agreement are expected to begin the following day.
President Trump said on Thursday that “all of the remaining hostages” should be “released on Monday or Tuesday” in what he described as a “complicated process” that will mark “a day of joy”.
Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the ceasefire, describing it as “a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world”. He added that he was grateful for the “tireless diplomatic efforts” of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States, supported by regional partners.
While fragile, news of the breakthrough was met with jubilation in Gaza and Israel.
“These are the moments that are considered historic, long-awaited by Palestinian citizens,” said Gaza resident Khaled Shaat. “The joy we saw a short time ago in the street is relief from the massacres, killing and genocide.”
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said that the ceasefire was “the fruit of the tremendous sacrifices and the legendary patience of our people”.
In Tel Aviv, people gathered in Hostages Square, now a symbol of the ordeal of those still held in Gaza.
Omri Lifhshitz, 51, son of Oded, a peace activist seized on October 7 and killed in captivity, said: “We are so happy for the war to end. We don’t want any more soldiers to die – we don’t want any more civilians in Gaza to die. We hope for a better future for all of us. For us, the Palestinians and the Middle East. We feel like right now this is the end of the war.”
Arriving in Israel after hearing his son was to be released, Tal Kuperstein, the father of hostage Bar Kuperstein, said: “Until it happens, it hasn’t happened. We’ll wait and see.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “a great day for Israel”, thanking troops and President Trump for “their mobilisation for this sacred mission of releasing our hostages”.
Hamas described the plan as “responsible and serious”.
The war began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas led an incursion into Israel, massacring some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back into Gaza.
Israel’s subsequent campaign has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children according to local health officials. The UN reported that at least 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza, often multiple times, and that famine has unfolded. A UN commission of enquiry concluded Israel has committed genocide.
Pressed by The Independent, an Israeli government spokesperson declined to specify how and when aid would be rolled out, and whether the UN and humanitarian agencies would be able to resume their full work to alleviate starvation in the strip.
The World Health Organisation told The Independent it is calling for unimpeded access across Gaza and unhindered entry of supplies “through all routes”.
Trump said his deal would ensure that “ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon” creating the first steps towards a “Strong, Durable and Everlasting Peace.”
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in the past has called for the complete “destruction” of Gaza, said his far-right Religious Zionism party would not support the deal.
Preparations were underway regardless. The IDF said it had begun “operational preparations”, including those to “transition to adjusted deployment lines soon”. A government spokesperson said that after all the hostages are released, the military would hold about 53 per cent of Gaza.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Araby TV that Israel would pull out from all populated areas in Gaza on Friday, as the release of the hostages would require arrangements on the ground.
Mark Wallace, former US ambassador to the UN, told The Independent said the deal could be “transformational”.
“The return of the hostages and cessation of violence is so important. The challenges ahead lie in the greatest reconstruction effort certainly since Kuwait if not the Second World War. And of course what does the governance look like that is sustainable and peaceful.”
Overtures to peace were no guarantee that it would materialise. Discussions on the second stage of the agreement were to begin a day after the hostages were released, sources told Al-Araby. But there was still the possibility the first stage could be upended.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Israel had begun to “manipulate the dates, the lists, and some of the procedures and steps agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement”. He said they were in touch with mediators to “oblige” Israel to “comply with what was agreed upon”.
Qassem told Al Jazeera that the living hostages in Gaza could be released at the same time as the deceased if conditions on the ground allow it, though Israeli sources told CNN that Israel assesses Hamas may not be able to find and return all 28 believed to have died.
As it stands, some 250 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and 1,700 Palestinians in Gaza detained by Israeli forces since the war began will be released, a Palestinian source told the BBC.
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