Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first stage of a White House-drafted peace plan designed to end the war in the Gaza Strip, US President Donald Trump announced on the evening of October 8. The parties confirmed the conclusion of the agreement.

Details

"This means that ALL hostages will be released as soon as possible and Israel will withdraw its troops to the agreed lines as the first steps towards a lasting, secure and eternal peace. All sides will be treated fairly!" - Trump wrote on the social media network Truth Social. He thanked the mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey who worked with the US "to make this historic and unprecedented event happen."

The Palestinian Hamas movement has confirmed the deal, the BBC reported. However, its Palestinian source says Hamas has not yet received a final list of prisoners Israel plans to release in exchange. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement "a national and moral victory for the state of Israel" and promised to convene the government on Oct. 9 to ratify it.

The ceasefire will take effect immediately after approval by the Israeli government - around 14:00 Jerusalem time (13:00 CET), a senior Palestinian official told the BBC. He said the "yellow line" on the map of Trump's plan - the first stage of the IDF withdrawal after the hostage agreement - had been adjusted to meet the demands of both sides.

Context

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. At least 67,000 people, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since then, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled territory. The UN considers these figures reliable, although Israel disputes them, the BBC notes.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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