Israel and the terror group Hamas have officially entered into a ceasefire after the two sides reached agreement on the initial stage of a plan to end the war in Gaza.
The agreement was presented to the Israeli government on Thursday. The security cabinet voted Thursday to approve the deal that was reached after days of negotiation in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the adoption of the agreement after the security council vote.
“We fought during these two years to achieve our war aims, and a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages – all of the hostages, the living and the dead – and we’re about to achieve that goal,” Netanyahu said.
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner sat alongside the Israeli premier at the announcement.
“I really want to say that this all would not have been possible without the bravery of the IDF,” Kushner stated. “I know a lot of you, probably all of you have family, friends who were in this effort … put your sacrifices on the line to fight for your country and to try to make a difference. I think that made a very, very big difference.”
WATCH: Remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the government meeting for the approval of the hostages release framework, together with President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, @SteveWitkoff, and with the President’s son-in-law, @JaredKushner. pic.twitter.com/zMALibPcEY
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 9, 2025
Trump is expected to visit Israel in the coming days and address the Knesset, a rare honor for a U.S. president. Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana on Thursday officially invited “The Peace President” to address the Israeli body.
The ceasefire includes the release of the hostages held by Hamas. Trump has said that he expects the 20 living hostages still held by Hamas to be returned to Israel early next week.
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It is unclear how many of the dead hostages, 28 in all, will be returned to Israel. Reports during the negotiations suggested that Israeli officials had concerns that Hamas did not know the locations of the bodies of all of the dead and may not be able to return them.
Israel is expected to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return. The release may include notorious top terrorists as well.
Israeli military forces are expected to pull back from the heart of Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire.