Category World News

United States President Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of a peace framework that aims at a Gaza ceasefire and the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners.

The announcement follows from Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war on Gaza, which he announced last week, and which Israel, Hamas and most of the world broadly welcomed.

More than 67,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, described by many international rights organisations and a United Nations commission as genocidal in nature.

Here is what we know about the ceasefire agreement:

What happened on Wednesday?

Trump said Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first step of his Gaza ceasefire plan.

In a post on Truth Social at 23:17 GMT, he wrote that all captives would be released “very soon” and that Israel would pull its troops back to an agreed line as part of the deal.

Just hours earlier, Trump had told reporters he was ready to travel to the Middle East as soon as this weekend to help push the plan forward.

He had first unveiled his 20-point proposal on September 29, following a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, framing it as a roadmap to end the war in Gaza.

That possibility grew more concrete during a White House event on Wednesday, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio entered the room and handed him a note.

After reading it, Trump told reporters: “I was just given a note by the secretary of state saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’re going to need me pretty quickly.”

Concluding the event, Trump said: “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East.”

According to a photograph, the note urged the president to sign off on a Truth Social post so he could be the first to announce the deal.

What exactly did Trump say they agreed to?

Trump, in his Truth Social post, said that:

• Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of the peace plan
• All of the captives will be released very soon
• Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed-upon line
• That will be the first step towards a strong and durable peace
• All parties will be treated fairly
• Trump also thanked mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye

The announcement represents the most significant breakthrough Trump has achieved regarding the war, after eight months of attempts at brokering an end to the conflict. During his re-election campaign, the US president had described ending the war in Gaza as one of his foreign-policy priorities.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan… BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/lAUxi1UPYh

What remains uncertain?

The deal has raised hopes of ending the war, but important details are still unclear.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said “some serious disagreements” remain between Israel and Hamas, and crucial details are yet to be hammered out. They include the timing and the extent of an Israeli withdrawal, the makeup of the post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas.

“You could say that the initial phase of the initial phase is working out,” Bishara said. According to him, both sides appeared to agree on “some sort of parameters” for a captive-prisoner exchange.

“According to the [Trump] plan, … after Hamas hands over the captives, then the war should be over,” Bishara said. But, he added, “Israel says no, the war will be over only after Hamas disarms.”

How soon could the captives be released?

Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity programme on Wednesday that the captives could be released on Monday, including the bodies of those who have died.

A Hamas source said the surviving captives would be released within 72 hours of the Israeli government’s approval of the deal. Israeli officials indicated the process could be expected to start on Saturday.

Trump said he believed Iran would be part of “the whole peace situation”.

About 20 Israeli captives are believed to be alive in Gaza. Hamas and other Palestinian factions had taken about 250 captives on October 7, 2023, when they attacked Israel. More than 1,100 people died during that attack.

How did Israel react?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “a great day for Israel”.

“I offer my heartfelt thanks to President Trump and his team for their dedication to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a statement late on Wednesday night.

“With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and enhance peace with our neighbours.”

With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home. This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel.

From the beginning, I made it clear: we will not rest until all our hostages return and all our goals…

How did Hamas react?

Hamas released a statement, saying the agreement stipulated “an end to the war on Gaza, the occupation’s withdrawal from it, the entry of aid and a prisoner exchange”.

It thanked Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye and Trump for their mediation efforts, and it also called on Trump and other parties to “compel the occupation government to fully implement the agreement’s requirements and not allow it to evade or delay the implementation of what has been agreed upon”.

It also said, “We salute our great people in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the West Bank, who have demonstrated unparalleled pride, heroism, and honour.”

“These great sacrifices and stances have thwarted the Israeli occupation’s plan for subjugation and displacement.”

Hamas, in the statement, also said that the group “will not abandon our people’s national rights: to achieve freedom, independence, and self-determination”.

How did people in Gaza react?

People in Gaza have expressed a mix of jubilation and caution according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Abu Azzoum said families were cheering once they heard the news of the ceasefire after more than two years of devastation, destruction, displacement and broken promises.

“People are desperately waiting to be reunited with loved ones and even to have a moment to mourn what they have lost. But this ceasefire has not taken effect so far, and caution is highly required among civilians regarding the return to homes in areas that are still classified as an active red zone,” he said.

How did world leaders react?

Leaders and groups around the world have celebrated the negotiators signing off on first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

“I commend the diplomatic efforts of the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in brokering this desperately needed breakthrough,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the news and urged that the agreement on the first stage of Trump’s plan for Gaza must be implemented in full without delay.

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said he hoped “the release of hostages and enhanced humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza will bring respite to them and pave the way for lasting peace.”

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that while this is “an essential first step” to achieve peace, “Hamas needs to release all of the hostages and Israel must withdraw their troops to the agreed-upon line.”

What happens next?

Netanyahu said he will bring the agreement to his cabinet on Thursday for approval.

Once the vote is passed, the Israeli military will pull back. Seventy-two hours after that, Hamas is expected to begin releasing captives.

HA Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera that the “crucial point now is how much pressure” will continue, especially on Israel, to ensure the ceasefire holds.

The different phases of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza under the proposed deal are “crucial”, Hellyer said, noting that withdrawing goes against Israel’s long-stated plans for the Palestinian enclave.

Trump is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days. Netanyahu has also invited him to address Israel’s parliament, and Trump told Axios he is “likely” to make the trip to deliver that address.

United States President Donald Trump says indirect talks between Hamas and Israel over a potential ceasefire in the war on Gaza and an exchange of captives were going “very well” and that he may travel to the Middle East later this week.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that a deal is “very close”.

“Negotiations are going along very well,” he said. “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday,” he said.

Senior officials from Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt and the US joined the delegations in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday, the third day of the talks, as the mediators pressed the two sides to resolve their differences over Trump’s 20-point proposal.

The first phase of the plan calls for a ceasefire and the release of 48 Israeli captives held in Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be alive, and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in appalling conditions in Israeli jails.

Hamas has submitted its list of detainees to be freed as part of the proposed swap.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer – a close aide of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – were participating in the negotiations on Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

Also joining the discussions was the prime minister of longstanding key mediator Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

The Hamas delegation includes leaders Khalil al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin, two negotiators who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar’s capital Doha that killed five people last month.

In a statement released late Wednesday, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said the group welcomes the participation of Qatar’s prime minister and Turkiye’s intelligence chief, alongside Egypt’s intelligence chief, in the current round of talks.

He said their involvement gives the negotiations “a strong boost” towards achieving positive results on ending the war and facilitating a prisoner exchange.

A delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group is also set to arrive in Egypt to participate in the indirect talks, according to a statement from the group.

The PIJ is the smaller of the two main Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip and is currently holding some Israeli captives.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the mediated negotiations had made “a lot of headway” and that a ceasefire would be declared if they reached a positive outcome.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says the talks remain tense with “some serious disagreements”, as crucial details are yet to be hammered out – including the timing and the extent of an Israeli withdrawal, the makeup of the post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas.

“You could say that the initial phase of the initial phase is working out,” Bishara said. According to him, both sides appeared to agree on “some sort of parameters” for a captive-prisoner exchange.

“According to the plan, … after Hamas hands over the captives, then the war should be over,” Bishara said. “Israel says no, the war will be over only after Hamas disarms.”

Israeli attacks continue

Even as the talks progressed on Wednesday, Israel continued its attacks on Gaza. At least eight Palestinians were killed across Gaza over the previous 24 hours, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday. At least 61 others were injured in attacks, it said.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement on Wednesday that Israel carried out 271 air and artillery strikes over the past five days despite calls from the US to stop the bombardment. The attacks targeted densely populated areas and shelters for displaced people across the enclave, killing 126 civilians, including women and children – with 75 of them in Gaza City alone.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from central Gaza’s az-Zawayda, said the situation on the ground “looks extremely bleak” as Israeli drones are still targeting residential buildings, particularly in Gaza City.

“Civilians have said the scale of bombardment sounds less intense in comparison with the days preceding the onset of the current round of negotiations,” Abu Azzoum said.

“They say that might be a sign that mediators are exerting further pressure on Israel to at least mitigate the scale of its bombardment on Gaza for one reason: It’s to allow for Hamas fighters to retrieve bodies of Israeli captives as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal,” he said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that just 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning, and only a third of 176 primary care facilities work.

Hanan Balkhy, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said Gaza has been struggling with “dire shortages” of electricity, clean water and medicine, as well as broken equipment and damaged infrastructure in those health facilities still working.

“Some facilities have been hit and rehabilitated and hit once more,” she said.