The Israeli government has approved a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, just days after the two-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced on Thursday that it had given its final approval to back the agreement after 734 days of war.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office said in a statement: 'The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased.'

It came despite fierce opposition from Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right party Jewish Power, had earlier declared he would be voting against the deal and threatened to topple Netanyahu's coalition government if Hamas's 'rule was not dismantled'.

'In conversations held between me and the prime minister in recent days, I made it clear that under no circumstances will I be part of a government that allows the continued existence of Hamas's rule in Gaza,' Ben-Gvir said.

'This is a glaring red line. The prime minister committed to me that this will be the case.'

A ceasefire will go into effect within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting when Israeli troops will also begin to withdraw from Gaza along an agreed-upon line.

Hamas will release the remaining living and dead Israeli hostages within 72 hours after that. Once they are returned, Israel will free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans who have been held since October 7.

Donald Trump earlier said during a meeting of his cabinet at the White House that he was 'working on the timing' to make the trip to Egypt to attend a signing ceremony.

'That will be a day of joy, I'm going to try and make a trip over,' the US President said.

America will send 200 troops to monitor the ceasefire deal, although separate reports from a senior US official say they will not deployed in Gaza.

Instead, there will be a 'joint task force' that could include soldiers from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE.

US Central Command will establish a 'civil-military coordination center' in Israel that will facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the war-torn territory, officials told the Associated Press.

It comes after Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire, after days of indirect talks in Egypt.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'All of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.'

Qatar, which helped broker the deal along with Egypt and Turkey, said it was the 'first phase' of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hailed the news as a 'moment of profound relief that will be felt around the world'.

Under Trump's deal, Hamas plans to release all remaining hostages, both living and dead, in exchange for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza.

Last night, the U.S. president spoke to the families of those held captive by the terror organisation during a phone call with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

With Trump on speakerphone, Lutnick asked the families: 'You have the best crowd in the world, what do you have to say to President Trump?' The entire group of about a dozen people responded: 'Thank you!'

'Thank you very much everybody,' responded Trump, as one of the family members exclaimed: 'You did it!'

The security cabinet meeting was delayed by several hours, after being originally scheduled to take place at 17:00 local time (15:00 BST).

One of the reasons for the delay was ongoing discussions regarding the list of Palestinian security prisoners to be released, reported Channel 12.

There are 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Trump said he believed that all the hostages - including the deceased - will be 'coming back' on Monday.

He is expected to arrive in Jerusalem on Sunday, the office of Israel's president said, after the U.S. leader announced Israel and Hamas had agreed to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

An event scheduled for Sunday at the Israeli president's residence in Jerusalem was cancelled 'in light of the expected release of the hostages, and... the upcoming visit of President of the United States Donald J. Trump to Israel,' the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement on Thursday.

'The decision was made due to anticipated security closures in Jerusalem surrounding the visit and the historic developments unfolding in the coming days.'

When asked whether his trip to the Middle East could include Gaza, Trump said: 'I may do that.'

A final draft of phase one of the deal was signed by all parties this morning.

A top official within Hamas told AFP Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners: 250 among those serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war.

The exchange should take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the deal, which was also 'agreed with Palestinian factions', another source within Hamas said.

A daily minimum of 400 trucks of aid will enter the Gaza Strip for the first five days of the ceasefire, to be increased in following days, according to the same source.

It also provides for the 'return of displaced persons from the south of the Gaza Strip to Gaza (City) and the north immediately,' they added.

Palestinians celebrate following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting, outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025

The deal stipulates 'scheduled withdrawals' of Israeli troops, the Hamas top official said, and includes 'guarantees from President Trump and the mediators'.

Hamas called in an official statement on Trump to compel Israel to fully implement the agreement and 'not allow it to evade or procrastinate in implementing what has been agreed'.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced overnight that he would be convening a cabinet meeting Thursday to approve a plan for the release of hostages.

He said on social media: 'With God's help we will bring them all home.'

He called the deal 'a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel'.

The prisoner-hostage exchange should take place within 72 hours of the Israeli government vote ratifying the deal, an official told the Daily Mail.

Israel's security cabinet voted in favour of the deal, despite the fact that certain members of Netanyahu's far-right coalition have vehemently opposed any peace agreement with Hamas.

Finance Minister of Israel, Bezalel Smotrich, said his far-right Religious Zionism party would not vote in support of a Gaza ceasefire.

He wrote on X of his 'tremendous fear of the consequences of emptying the prisons and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders, who will do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood, God forbid'.

On Wednesday night, Trump said the world 'coming together' had helped forge his landmark deal between Israel and Hamas.

He declared it was a 'great day for the world' as he imagined a prosperous future for the war torn area.

'The whole world has come together on this one, Israel, every country has come together. This has been a fantastic day,' he said. 'This is a great day for the world. This is a wonderful day, a wonderful day for everybody.'

Trump also said Gaza will be a 'peaceful, much safer place' and the U.S. would remain involved to ensure its safety and prosperity.

'Other countries in the area will help it reconstruct because they have tremendous wealth,' Trump said, adding: 'We'll be involved in helping them make it successful and helping it stay peaceful.'

Trump confirmed that he spoke to Netanyahu earlier Wednesday night. The prime minister told him, 'I can't believe it,' according to the president's retelling.

Weary Palestinians cautiously welcomed the deal Thursday as a potential breakthrough in ending the two-year war, following days of negotiations in Egypt.

In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped Champagne and cried tears of joy when the deal was announced.

Among the photos is a rare picture of Einav Zangauker, mother of 25-year-old hostage Matan, smiling.

She has spent the past two years fiercely protesting for the release of her son, kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz, and against Netanyahu's government for the ongoing military activity in Gaza.

The major peace deal was announced by Trump just two days before the 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is revealed. The winner will be be awarded on December 10 at a formal ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

Trump has long made the prize one of his ambitions as president.

Saudi Arabia welcomes possible start of a ceasefire.

The kingdom said in a foreign ministry statement that it hoped the peace deal will lead to urgent action to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Saudi Arabia also expressed hope that the peace plan would lead to the 'initiation of practical steps to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders'.

According to the Hamas-run Gazan authorities, some 67,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault. It followed the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages.

What happens next?

The timeline is emerging but still seems fluid.

A ceasefire is expected to come into force after Israel's cabinet approved the deal at a meeting on Thursday evening.

Israel will withdraw to predetermined lines within 24 hours after that. Once the shooting stops, Hamas is set to release hostages within 72 hours, which could possibly be on Monday.

Humanitarian aid to Palestinians should then start to flow.

Trump's plan also calls for an international stabilisation force, which could start taking shape when European ministers and top officials from Arab states meet in Paris on Thursday.

They will also discuss issues such as future governance of Gaza, aid, reconstruction and demilitarisation.

Trump is expected to travel to the region in coming days. The White House said he was considering heading there on Friday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for all parties to uphold the agreement's terms, while the EU's policy chief, Kaja Kallas, wrote on X that 'the EU will do what it can to support its implementation'.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed the deal as 'extraordinary news' and urged its swift implementation, while Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel expressed hope for wider peace in the region.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron said the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas brings hope for hostages, Palestinians in Gaza, and the entire region.

He added the agreement will be discussed in Paris later Thursday during a meeting on Gaza's future.

'This agreement must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution,' he said.

Turkey's Erdogan thanks Trump for showing `necessary political will'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country played a role in the negotiations, expressed pleasure with the ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel.

In a statement posted on X, Erdogan thanked Trump for 'demonstrating the necessary political will' as well as Qatar and Egypt for facilitating the deal.

A senior Hamas official said the group has handed over a list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the ceasefire deal.

Zaher Jabarin, who oversees Palestinian prisoners' affairs, said in a statement the list was prepared in accordance with 'the criteria agreed upon in the agreement.'

Palestinians, including children, gathered at the Nuseirat refugee camp celebrate with Palestinian flags after the announcement of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza on October 09, 2025 in Deir al-Balah, Gaza

Foreign Christian pilgrims and other supporters of a ceasefire deal march through the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem as they celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, on October 9, 2025

Who are the hostages still being held by Hamas who may be alive?

Two years after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the terror group is believed to still be holding 48 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Israel believes 20 of the hostages are still alive.

It is not known whether Bipin Joshi, taken from Kibbutz Alumim, and Tamir Nimrodi, captured from his base near the Erez Crossing, are alive or dead.

The hostages believed to be alive are:

Matan Angrest (22) - Israeli soldier taken from Nahal Oz

Ariel Cunio (28) - Taken hostage from Nir Oz

David Cunio (34) - Taken hostage from Nir Oz

Gali and Ziv Berman (27) - The twins were taken captive from Kfar Aza

Elkana Bohbot (36) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Rom Braslavski (21) - Working on security at the Supernova festival and abducted

Nimrod Cohen (20) - Abducted from a tank in the Gaza envelope

Evyatar David (24) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Guy Gilboa-Dalal (24) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Maxim Herkin (37) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Eitan Horn (38) - Taken hostage from Nir Oz

Bar Kupershtein (23) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Omri Miran (48) - Taken hostage from Nahal Oz

Eitan Mor (25) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Segev Kalfon (27) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Yosef-Haim Ohana (24) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Alon Ohel (24) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Avinatan Or (32) - Abducted at the Supernova festival

Matan Zangauker (25) - Taken hostage from Nir Oz

He said the group still 'awaiting final agreement on the names,' and that they will be announced 'once the relevant procedures and understandings are completed.

The names of prisoners rumoured to be released include Ahmad Sa’adat, Ibrahim Hamed and Abbas al-Sayyid.

Sa’adat is secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and planned the assassination of Minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

Hamed is a senior member of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank and served as the main planner of suicide bombings during the Second Intifada. He is convicted of murdering 46 Israelis and injuring more than 400 and has been sentenced to 54 life terms.

Al-Sayyid is another senior member of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank and was one of the planners of the Park Hotel bombing in 2002, in which 30 Israelis were killed and 160 were injured.

Wednesday's agreement reached in Sharm el-Sheikh, a favoured location for Middle East peace conferences over the decades with a patchy record of success, is only an initial phase covering handing over hostages held in Gaza, exchanging them with Palestinian prisoners inside Israel and a partial withdrawal of Israel from the enclave.

Plenty of pitfalls remain after negotiators left for later discussions about some of the thornier issues on which previous initiatives have foundered, such as the full extent of an Israeli withdrawal, the disarmament of Hamas and who and how to guarantee that war will not resume after this phase.

For a start, guns have not yet fallen silent.

Trump demanded Israel halt its bombing when Hamas first indicated partial acceptance for his 20-point plan on Friday. That has not happened. Scores of Palestinians have been killed since then in airstrikes and shelling, particularly in and around Gaza City, the focus of a recent Israeli offensive.

However, the bombardment has been more sporadic since Trump declared a deal had been secured on Wednesday, prompting celebrations in Israel, where families of hostages were jubilant in Tel Aviv's so-called hostages square, and in Gaza, where people gathered among the ruins even as blasts could be heard.

While this is a partial deal, a notable difference from previous ceasefire arrangements is that there is no deadline for reaching a full deal. It does not set a deadline of a few weeks, after which hostilities could resume if talks falter.

The jury is still out on whether that makes this deal more durable. There are those among Netanyahu's religious nationalist coalition who are already talking of more war.

Smotrich, a staunch opponent of any concession to Palestinians, has called for Hamas to be destroyed after the hostages are returned.

But on this occasion, Trump has been far more vocal in his determination to hold feet to the fire on both sides, leaving less room for Israel to relaunch its offensive or Hamas to delay, even if past experience counsels caution over too much optimism.

Trump announced his plan standing next to Netanyahu in Washington last week with what seemed a 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer for Hamas. Yet when Hamas gave only a partial acceptance, Trump immediately demanded Israel stop bombing. And as the days ticked by in Sharm el-Sheikh talks, he warned Hamas 'all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out' if it did not sign up.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half of the dead.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas met with Israeli activists in Ramallah on Thursday to discuss long-term peace after Israel and Hamas agreed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

'I welcome the agreement signed today, the end of the war, and the release of the hostages,' Abbas told dozens of representatives from Israeli peace organisations assembled at the presidential palace in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

'A few months ago, (U.S. President Donald) Trump had a plan to expel the Palestinians, but later he forgot about it,' he added.

'Nevertheless, we will remain in our homeland and establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem,' he said.

Speaking from a podium in the presence of Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh and the Palestinian Authority's vice-president Hussein al-Sheikh, a jovial Abbas spoke to a friendly audience, sometimes exchanging smiles and jokes with activists.

Two power cuts momentarily left all attendees in the dark, an AFP journalist reported.

Among them was Iddo Ilam, an activist and refusnik who explained why he chose not to serve in the Israeli army, as Abbas gestured to him with two thumbs up.

'We are asking for a different future, peace between Jews and Palestinians,' said Rula Daoud, co-director of Standing Together, an Israeli grassroots movement aiming to bring together Palestinians and Jewish Israeli communities.

Trump's 20-point peace plan

•  Gaza will become a terror-free zone with all militant groups dismantled so it does not pose a threat to its neighbours. 
• Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough
• If both sides accept the deal, hostilities would stop immediately. Israeli forces would halt operations and withdraw to a set line while the truce holds.
•  Within 72 hours of Israel agreeing, all hostages would be released, alive or deceased. 
• Once all hostages are returned, Israel would release 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Palestinians detained after October 7, 2023. It would also return the remains of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage.
•  Hamas fighters who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty once all hostages are returned. Fighters who refuse would be allowed to leave Gaza safely for other countries.
•  Large-scale aid would enter Gaza immediately after agreement. This would include water, electricity, sewage repair, hospital rehabilitation, and rubble clearance.
•  Relief would be delivered through the UN, Red Crescent and other neutral international bodies. The Rafah crossing would be reopened under this system.
•  A transitional technocratic committee made up of Palestinians and international experts would run Gaza. Oversight would be provided by a new international 'Board of Peace' chaired by Donald Trump, with other leaders such as former British prime minister Tony Blair suggested as members.
•  An international panel of experts would create a plan for Gaza¿s economic  redevelopment. The plan would draw on experience from major Middle East projects.
•  A special economic zone will be established, with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
•  No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. People will be encouraged to stay to help build Gaza.
•  Hamas and other factions would not take part in Gaza's governance. Their direct or indirect involvement in running the territory would be banned. All military, terror, and offensive infastructure, including tunnels will be destroyed and not rebuilt. Independent monitors will supervise the demilitarisation of Gaza. 
•  A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
•  An International Stabilisation Force would deploy to Gaza to train vetted Palestinian police. It would also help secure borders with Israel and Egypt in coordination with Jordan and Egypt.
•  Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the Unites States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens.
•  In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.
•  An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasising the benefits that can be derived from peace.
•  While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
•  The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.