By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel’s government ratified a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held in Gaza within 72 hours after that.
The Israeli cabinet agreed to the deal early Friday morning, roughly 24 hours after mediators announced an agreement to free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza.
“The government has now approved the plan for the release of all hostages – the living and the fallen,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s X account said.
The war has deepened Israel’s international isolation and upended the Middle East, having evolved into a regional conflict that has drawn in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon. It also tested the U.S.-Israeli relationship, with Trump seeming to lose patience with Netanyahu and pressuring him to reach a deal.
Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced, the biggest step yet to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the deadly attacks that started it.
Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said he had received guarantees from the United States and other mediators that the war was over.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of government approval of the deal. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza would be freed within 72 hours.
Twenty Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead, and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead may take longer than releasing those who are alive.
Under the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza and Hamas will free all remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel.
Fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid would be allowed to surge into Gaza to relieve civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been sheltering in tents after Israeli forces destroyed their homes and razed entire cities to dust.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jersualem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Howard Goller in New York, Pesha Magid and Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem, Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai, and Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy, Peter Graff, Andy Sullivan and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Rod Nickel and Cynthia Osterman)
