Israeli ministers, Netanyahu approve Gaza peace deal, Donald Trump headed to Egypt to officially sign off

The Israeli cabinet has approved a Gaza peace plan after meeting late Thursday, endorsing the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage release deal signed with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s offce have confirmed the deal, inducing the release of hostages.

The deal means the IDF will withdraw to new lines inside of the Gaza strip. Then Hamas have 72 hours to release the hostages.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the remaining Israeli hostages should be released on “Monday or Tuesday”.

Mr Trump says the release day will be a “day of joy” and is set to travel to Egypt to officially sign the deal in coming days.

An Israeli Government spokesperson said earlier that the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of the Government’s approval.

The Government meeting on Thursday night (local time) was due to follow a just completed meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, however was delayed due to far-right Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announcing his party, Otzma Yehudit, would be voting against the first phase of the peace plan.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement in Egypt to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

It is the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza that has upended the Middle East.

“Last night, we reached a momentous breakthrough in the Middle East, something that people said was never going to be done. We ended the war in Gaza... We secured the released of all of the remaining hostages,” Mr Trump said while speaking at the White House on Thursday US time.

“I’m going to try and make a trip over. We’re going to try and get over there (Egypt), and we’re working on the timing,” he said.

“We’re going to go to Egypt, where we’ll have a signing.”

When asked by a reporter what guarantees Hamas is disarmed and Israel doesn’t continue bombing Mr Trump says the priority is “getting the hostages back”.

“The first thing we’re doing is getting our hostages back... After that, we’ll see, but they’ve agreed to things and I think it’s going to move along pretty well.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking along side Mr Trump, said the deal would “not have been possible” without the US President.

“One day, perhaps, the entire story will be told about the events of yesterday but suffice it to say, it’s not an exaggeration that none of it would’ve been possible without the President of the United States being involved,” he said.

Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced; the biggest step yet to end the war, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.

Officials on both sides confirmed they had signed the deal following indirect talks in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Under the deal, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas will free all remaining hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel.

The United Nations plans to ramp up its delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the first 60 days of a ceasefire in the enclave, a top UN official said on Thursday.

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.

The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that has evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon, and deepened Israel’s international isolation.

Although most have welcomed and celebrated the historic development, fears remain.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Mr Ben-Gvir warned on Thursday that his Jewish Power Party would push to topple the Netanyahu’s Government unless Hamas is ultimately dismantled.

The Israeli Knesset parliament has asked Mr Trump to speak, and the president said he was planning to do so if requested.

Further steps in Mr Trump’s 20-point plan have yet to be discussed, including how the shattered Gaza Strip is to be ruled when the fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has so far rejected Israel’s demands that it disarm.

But the announcement of an end to fighting and the return of hostages was greeted with jubilation.

“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing,” said Abdul Majeed Abd Rabbo in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Einav Zaugauker, whose son Matan is one of the last hostages, rejoiced in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostages Square, where families of those seized in the Hamas attack have long assembled.

“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t explain what I’m feeling ... it’s crazy,” she said, speaking in the red glow of a celebratory flare.