Israel and Hamas agree Gaza ceasefire : NPR

TEL AVIV – Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire that aims to end the devastating war in Gaza that has sparked the deadliest fighting in history between Israelis and Palestinians.

President Trump said on Truth Social that Israel and Hamas have “signed the first phase of our peace plan.”

“This means that ALL hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw its troops to the agreed line as the first step towards a lasting, lasting and everlasting peace. All parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding countries and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”

The announcement came just hours after Trump told reporters at the White House that he was ready to travel to the Middle East as early as this weekend.

Israel and Hamas are not talking to each other directly, demanding indirect talks mediated by President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

It is not yet clear when the ceasefire agreement will take effect. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Social media reports said the cabinet would meet on Thursday, where they were expected to vote on the ceasefire agreement “to approve the agreement and bring all our beloved hostages home.”

In the same social media post, Netanyahu expressed his “sincere gratitude to President Trump and his team for their dedication to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.” They later spoke on the phone and the Israeli Prime Minister described the conversation as “a very emotional and warm conversation.” In the same statement, the prime minister said he had invited Trump to address the Knesset (Israeli parliament).

The agreement is believed to involve Hamas releasing about 50 hostages, living and dead, and Israel releasing about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

According to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “The deal will be submitted to the Israeli cabinet tomorrow. Once they vote in favor, Israel must withdraw to the line, which should take less than 24 hours. Then the 72-hour countdown begins, and Hamas will try to leave early if possible. Our estimate is that hostages will begin to be released on Monday.”

As Trump noted last week, other key elements of the agreement call for Hamas to disarm and give up a future role in governing Gaza, a coastal territory devastated by two years of fighting.

Israel is expected to keep some troops in the Gaza Strip for now, but will eventually withdraw once the ceasefire strengthens and peace is established.

The exact details of these key provisions were not immediately clear.

The agreement marks a major breakthrough after several failed attempts and two previous failed ceasefires. A truce reached in January this year collapsed in March when Israel renewed its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The truce in the early days of the war, in November 2023, lasted only a week before collapsing.

A broad international effort has provided broad support for the recent ceasefire and raised hopes that it will last. In both Israeli and Palestinian society, large majorities favor a cessation of hostilities.

The war began with a surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel in the early morning hours of October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed, mostly Israeli civilians, including many attending a weekend music festival. It was the worst one-day attack on Israel since the country's founding in 1948.

Israel launched a violent response that left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead, most of them women and children. Incessant Israeli bombing and relentless ground offensives have leveled most of the homes, schools, hospitals and businesses in the Gaza Strip. Throughout the conflict, Israel limited aid to Gaza, leading to severe shortages of food and medicine.

Gaza's population of more than 2 million has been expelled repeatedly throughout the war, with most residents now squeezed into tent camps in the southern part of the territory, near the border with Egypt.

The cessation of hostilities is expected to lead to a rapid increase in food supplies and other basic needs.

But rebuilding homes, roads, water and power systems will be a multi-year project.

And while the end of the war may now be in sight, there is no clear road map to resolving the issue of Palestinian political rights.

The plan calls for Hamas to step down after nearly two decades of ruling Gaza. It calls on “qualified Palestinians and international experts” to form an interim steering committee. In addition, the international Peace Council, chaired by Trump, will oversee the work of the committee and oversee the reconstruction of Gaza.

On the crucial issue of a Palestinian state, the plan vaguely calls for “a credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” but provides no details.

Meanwhile, Israel emerged from the war with a much stronger security position after destroying Hamas in Gaza, striking Hezbollah in Lebanon and striking Iran's nuclear facilities.

However, Israel has found itself internationally isolated over its handling of the war in Gaza, causing so many civilian casualties, limiting humanitarian aid and damaging much of the territory's infrastructure.