Israel and Hamas negotiators on Thursday signed a deal in Egypt to secure the return of all 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, of whom some 20 are believed to be alive, in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and a ceasefire.

“The final draft of phase one was signed this morning in Egypt by all parties to release all of the hostages,” said a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The security cabinet convened around 6:30 p.m., after an unexplained hour-and-a-half delay, for a briefing about the deal, to be followed by a full cabinet vote. The deal is expected to handily pass, despite some opposition from the far right.

The agreement stipulates that all living hostages and as many dead hostages as possible be returned within 72 hours of its adoption. According to a senior White House official, hostages will likely start to be freed on Monday, while US President Donald Trump said they will be released on either Monday or Tuesday.

In exchange, Israel will release 250 Palestinian security prisoners who are currently serving life sentences, as well as some 1,700 Palestinians detained by the military amid operations in Gaza over the course of the war. Israel will also hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in exchange for each hostage whose remains are returned to Israel.

Not yet agreed to is the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for the hostages, with conflicting reports on which arch-terrorists Israel has or has not agreed to free as part of the negotiations. Sensitive discussions on the issue were one of the reasons why the cabinet meeting Thursday night was delayed, Channel 12 reported.

The current deal is only the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which ultimately calls for Hamas’s disarmament, the Strip’s demilitarization and the installation of a transitional, “technocratic” governing body.

Though Israel and Hamas have both, in principle, backed the Trump framework, all of these issues are yet to be actually negotiated and agreed upon.

Sources told Qatari channel Al-Araby that talks for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement will begin one day after the hostages are released.

It was unclear if this referred to the release of all hostages, including the dead, or only the living.

Once the cabinet approves the first phase of the deal, the ceasefire will come into immediate effect.

Officials told The Times of Israel prior to the vote that within 24 hours of the approval, the IDF is expected to retreat to agreed-upon deployment lines, which will see the army remain in control of just over half of the Strip’s territory, or 53 percent — most of which is outside of urban areas.

After the retreat, the IDF will be in control of a buffer zone along the entire Gaza border, including the Philadelphi Corridor — the Egypt-Gaza border area — along with Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in the Strip’s far north, a ridge on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, and large portions of Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Within 72 hours of the IDF’s retreat, Hamas is set to release the hostages it is holding, beginning with the 20 believed to be alive.

The living hostages will be handed over to Red Cross representatives by Hamas.

Hamas has agreed during talks in Egypt that it will not hold ceremonies during the handover of hostages to Israel, an Arab diplomat and a second source familiar told The Times of Israel.

⁠The bodies of slain hostages are set to be received by troops in Gaza, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, will be held in their honor. The caskets are also to be examined by sappers “for security purposes,” according to the IDF.

Hamas has, in the past, told mediators it does not know where some of the dead hostages are located, which may delay the release of the bodies.

A joint task force made up of Israel, the United States, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt will be established to locate the bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza whose locations are unknown, according to a senior Turkish official.

In exchange for the hostages, Israel will release 250 Palestinian security prisoners who are currently serving life sentences. It will also release some 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained by the military amid operations in Gaza over the course of the war.

Qatari outlet Al-Araby reported Thursday evening that the discussions regarding the Palestinian prisoners to be released in the deal had ended, with the matter pending approval by the Israeli cabinet.

Israel does not intend to release prominent Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday.

“I can tell you at this point in time that he will not be part of this release,” spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters.

Barghouti is serving five life sentences for his part in planning terror attacks that killed five Israelis during the Second Intifada. He is thought to be a possible challenger to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s control of Ramallah.

The deal requires Israel to release, in addition to all the living prisoners, the bodies of 15 dead Palestinians in exchange for each dead hostage handed over by Hamas.

An Israeli source quoted by Hebrew-language media said that the bodies of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Mohammed Sinwar will also not be returned.

In a televised briefing, Netanyahu’s spokeswoman essentially declared victory in the two-year war, which was sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

“We have hit a critical point in this war,” Bedrosian said. “From day one in this war, the prime minister laid out three objectives — the return of all of our hostages, the defeat and dismantling of Hamas and ensuring Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”

“All of the prime minister’s objectives have now been achieved,” she said.

What will come after the hostage return and prisoner release, however, remained somewhat up in the air.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who has been a patron of Hamas’s leaders for years — said Thursday that his country will take part in efforts to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire, and contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, speaking to Fox News, said he was unaware of the Turkish president’s announcement.

In a Thursday interview, Sa’ar declined to refer to the current developments as “the end of the war,” but stressed that Israel hopes to see the full plan carried out and that “we don’t have any intention to renew the war.”

He stressed that “other parts” of the plan, including a full withdrawal, “are conditional…. Israel must do things, but there are parts Hamas must do. Hamas must disarm, we should implement all parts of the plan.”

Asked by the network whether Israel would accept a Palestinian state and whether the Trump plan is a “step toward statehood,” Sa’ar replied: “No,” expressing skepticism that the Palestinian Authority could perform the sweeping reforms outlined in the plan that could ultimately grant it a governance role in Gaza.

“The PA might be relevant only if it passes the reforms that were mentioned in the plan,” he said. “Let’s see if that will happen.”

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.