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LAST UPDATE | 9 Oct
ISRAEL AND HAMAS have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal that could see Israel’s withdrawal from parts of the territory and the freeing of the remaining living hostages within days.
The agreement also calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinians held in Israel as well as a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of an offensive that has seen a man-made famine declared in the territory and experts concluding that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people there.
Israel’s security cabinet will meet at 3pm Irish time to vote on the deal, which will be followed by a full cabinet meeting at 4pm. After the plan is formally approved, the ceasefire will come into effect on the ground in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump, who announced the 20-point peace plan last month, said Hamas is to release all hostages while Israel will pull its troops back to an agreed upon line.
The IDF confirmed this morning that it has started “operational preparations” to pull back troops “ahead of the implementation of the agreement”.
A source within Hamas has said the group will exchange 20 living hostages all at the same time for nearly 2,000 imprisoned Palestinians – 250 of whom are serving life sentences, but the majority of whom have been detained since October 2023.
There remain 28 dead hostages in Gaza, but the retrieval of their bodies is expected to take some time.
The exchange is expected to take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the ceasefire.
Trump said he believed all the hostages would “all be coming back on Monday”, adding that Washington will play a role in helping rebuild war-torn Gaza as well as keeping it safe and peaceful.
The announcement sparked waves of joy in Gaza, much of which has been flattened by Israel’s bombardment and most of whose residents have been displaced at least once over the past two years.
“Honestly, when I heard the news, I couldn’t hold back. Tears of joy flowed. Two years of bombing, terror, destruction, loss, humiliation, and the constant feeling that we could die at any moment,” displaced Gazan Samer Joudeh told AFP.
Now, we finally feel like we’re getting a moment of respite.
In Israel, thousands of people gathered in a Tel Aviv square, many wearing stickers reading: “They’re coming back.” Others held photos of hostages still in Gaza and waved Israeli and US flags.
“We have been waiting for this day for 734 days. We cannot imagine being anywhere else this morning,” said Laurence Ytzhak, 54, a Tel Aviv resident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the agreement will only take effect after receiving cabinet approval.
The country’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he will vote against the deal, though he did not threaten to resign from the government.
Smotrich expressed joy at the expected return of all hostages, but insisted that Israel “must continue to strive with all its strength to fully eradicate Hamas and completely demilitarise Gaza”.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas hailed the deal in a statement on social media, saying he hoped it would be a prelude to reaching a permanent political solution and lead “to an end to the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state”.
The fast-paced developments came last night after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupted an event at the White House yesterday to hand Trump an urgent note about the progress of the negotiations in Egypt.
“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday,” Trump said, adding that he was “most likely” to turn up in Egypt but would also consider going to Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said the bombardment of the territory had not stopped in the hours before the deal.
Tánaiste Simon Harris has welcomed the ceasefire deal, calling it “a critical moment that can see an end to the war”.
This historic moment, if grasped by all, can finally end the unconscionable human suffering.
“It can stop the dreadful bombing, silence the guns, end the famine and genocide, and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said, adding that Ireland “stands ready to assist in every practical way to achieve peace and to end human suffering”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hailed the new deal as “a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world”.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it marks a “significant breakthrough”.
“This is a major diplomatic accomplishment and a real chance to end a devastating war and release all the hostages. The EU will do what it can to support its implementation,” she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the agreement “must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution”.
Global pressure to end Israel’s ongoing offensive has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and hostage families still longing for their loved ones’ return.
One key to the negotiations was the names of the Palestinians whose released Hamas has pushed for.
High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti – from Hamas’s rival, the Fatah movement – is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media.
Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, also said the group wants “guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all”.
Today’s news coincides with the publication of a major new study by The Lancet estimating that more than 54,600 children in Gaza are acutely malnourished.
Its authors said that increases in death and starvation in Gaza will occur if the war does not end and the global community does not provide ongoing help to those living there.
Israel’s actions in Gaza have been widely condemned as genocide, including by a UN commission, numerous aid organisations and world governments (including Ireland).
Additional reporting from © AFP 2025
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