Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza.
Officials on both sides confirmed they had signed the deal following indirect talks in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The deal’s announcement was greeted with celebrations among Palestinians and Israelis alike.
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Under the deal, the biggest step yet towards peace, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza and Hamas will free hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for prisoners held by Israel.
Foreign Christian pilgrims and other supporters of a ceasefire deal march through the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem as they celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, on October 9, 2025.PHOTO: AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the ceasefire would take effect once the agreement is ratified by his government, which would convene after a security cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Ceasefire, withdrawal and release of hostages
An Israeli government spokeswoman, confirming the deal had been signed, said the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza will be freed within 72 hours, she said.
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A source briefed on details of the agreement said earlier that Israeli troops would begin pulling back within 24 hours of the deal being signed.
Palestinian children celebrate at a camp for displaced people in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on October 9, 2025, following news of a new Gaza ceasefire deal. Israel and Hamas on October 9 agreed a Gaza ceasefire deal to free the remaining living hostages, in a major step towards ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe. PHOTO: AFP
An Israeli official said all 20 Israeli hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza after being seized by Hamas in its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, would be released.
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The prisoners released in exchange will not include Marwan Barghouti, one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners, the spokeswoman said.
Turkey on Palestinian state
Turkey aims to take part in a “task force” overseeing the newly agreed ceasefire in Gaza and the implementation of its articles, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, as Ankara appeared to have emerged as a key player in both the negotiations and execution of the deal.
Turkey, which participated in the ceasefire negotiations in Egypt, has been one of the harshest critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza, calling it a genocide. Since Israel launched its attack on Gaza two years ago, the NATO ally has been involved in a largely indirect capacity in peace efforts but took a heightened role in recent weeks.
“I am very pleased that the Hamas-Israel talks taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, with contributions from us as Turkey, have resulted in a ceasefire in Gaza,” Erdogan posted on X earlier on Thursday.
He thanked Trump “who demonstrated the necessary political will to encourage the Israeli government towards the ceasefire”, as well as Qatar and Egypt, adding Ankara would not stop until a sovereign Palestinian state was established.
UN chief welcomes deal as path toward Palestinian statehood
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza on Thursday and said it represented a path toward self-determination of the Palestinian people.
“I urge all to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward,” Guterres said at the United Nations. “A path towards ending the occupation, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution.”
‘Assurance of full access for humanitarian groups,’ Norway
The Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the largest independent aid groups working in Gaza, said President Donald Trump’s plan to increase aid to starving people as part of a ceasefire will fail unless all aid groups can resume operations.
“The desperation is deeper and the exhaustion is greater than anyone can imagine inside Gaza … It’s not enough with some UN agencies and some few NGOs,” Jan Egeland, NRC head, told Reuters in an interview via video link from Oslo. “If not, the Trump peace plan will not succeed … We don’t have time for more bureaucratic obstacles.”
Egeland said NRC, among other international NGOs, had been blocked from bringing aid into Gaza since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade on supplies in May. Israel has said there is no limit on quantities of food aid entering Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing aid, accusations the Palestinian group denies. COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza, did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
The NRC is resubmitting a request to get hundreds of truckloads of lifesaving aid into Gaza, which had been denied access for months.