Israel Approves Gaza Ceasefire Deal

This came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first convened the Israeli security cabinet to discuss the decision and then held a meeting with ministers. “The government has now approved the draft for the release of all hostages (living and dead),” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement early Friday morning, according to The Jerusalem Post. he said. According to CNN, officials stated that the ceasefire will come into effect immediately.

US President Donald Trump’s special representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were also present at the Israeli government’s meeting in Jerusalem, where the government voted for the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli government has also approved the “first phase” of the ceasefire agreement, in which the exchange of hostages and Israel’s withdrawal from parts of Gaza are expected. Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said regarding the guarantees received from the United States that the first phase of the ceasefire agreement meant that the war in Gaza was “completely over”.

According to CNN, based on a Palestinian health official, at least 30 people have died in Gaza since Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement within the scope of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan yesterday. Residents reported smoke clouds and explosions in the area.

Local Al-Shifa Hospital Director Mohammed Abu Salmiya said that 30 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday evening, according to CNN. Gaza Civil Defense said that more than 40 Palestinians were trapped under rubble in the Al-Sabra district in northern Gaza during Israel’s military attack.

However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the attack was against a “Hamas terrorist cell” in northern Gaza that “poses an immediate threat” and said it could not confirm the IDF’s statement, CNN reported. A video produced by Civil Defense shows emergency crews trying to rescue men, women and children from the rubble. In one clip, a rescue worker gently lifts a young child from a destroyed home. The boy’s body is covered with a thick layer of dust and bloody abrasions. According to CNN’s report, he can be heard screaming.

Earlier, US President Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed on the first phase of a peace plan that would end the war in Gaza with a ceasefire agreement. He then said that the hostages would be released.

The US President then held a cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday morning, following the announcement that the “first phase” of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas would begin soon.

At the meeting, Trump said, “Last night we made a very important breakthrough in the Middle East, something people said would never be done. We ended the war in Gaza, and I think that will be a lasting peace, hopefully a lasting peace.”

“We have secured the release of all the remaining hostages, and they should be released on Monday or Tuesday. Getting them is a complicated process… I will try to make a trip there. We will try to get there. We are working on the timing, the exact timing. We will go to Egypt, we will make a signature there, an additional signature. We already had a signature representing me, but we will have an official signature…” he said.

Trump also emphasized his administration’s role in resolving global conflicts, stating that many wars ended during his tenure.