People familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that the Israeli military would begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene the government on Thursday to approve the agreement. Once that occurs, Israeli forces will begin withdrawing to the agreed upon boundary, according to a senior White House official. That should take less than 24 hours, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss planning.
“A great day for Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
What about the next phases of the peace deal?
It was not immediately clear whether the parties had made any progress on thornier questions about the future of the conflict, including whether Hamas will disarm, as Trump has demanded, and eventual governance of the war-torn territory.
The next phase of Trump’s plan calls for an international body led by Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration.
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Arab countries that back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says will never happen.
There is no clear indication who will rule Gaza when the war ends. Netanyahu, Trump, Western and Arab states have ruled out a role for Hamas, which has run Gaza since driving out Palestinian rivals in 2007.
Hamas has said it would relinquish Gaza governance only to a Palestinian technocrat government supervised by the Palestinian Authority and backed by Arab and Muslim countries. It rejects any role for Blair or foreign rule of Gaza.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the full details of the ceasefire agreement would be announced later.
How many hostages and prisoners are in Israel and Gaza?
About 1200 people were killed during Hamas’ cross-border assault on October 7, 2023, and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
Many hostages have been returned via previous swaps with Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, while other hostages have died while in Gaza.
Of the 48 hostages still in Gaza, about 20 are believed to still be alive.
Hamas plans to release all 20 living hostages this weekend, people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The bodies of the dead hostages will be handed over at a later stage in phases.
The White House believes they will begin being released on Monday.
In return, Israel is expected to set free about 2000 Palestinian prisoners. According to a Palestinian source close to the talks, they include Marwan Barghouti, a leading figure in the Fatah movement, and Ahmed Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Both are serving multiple life sentences for involvement in attacks that killed Israelis.
Barghouti remains the most popular Palestinian leader, according to recent polls by the West Bank-based Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, and has been cited as a possible future leader of a Palestinian state.
It was not immediately clear which Palestinian prisoners, including Barghouti, would be included in the first phase of the deal.
How many people have been killed in Gaza since the war began?
While the full extent of the casualties is difficult to determine and could be much hiu that official estimates, Gaza authorities say more than 67,000 people have been killed and much of the enclave has been flattened since Israel began its military response after the October 7 attack.
The United Nations and humanitarian groups have also repeatedly warned of severe food shortages, with parts of Gaza City and its surrounding areas facing famine conditions.
Reuters, AP
