A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect early Friday, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began withdrawing their troops following the formal approval of the deal by the Israeli government, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to All Israel News, The IDF is expected to complete its withdrawal within 24 hours, leaving control of approximately 53% of the Gaza Strip, including a border perimeter that encompasses the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border.
Once the withdrawal is finalized, Hamas is anticipated to release all 48 remaining Israeli hostages within the next 72 hours.
At around 12:30 a.m., after hours of discussions and deliberations, the Israeli government announced that it “approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages, the living and the deceased.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not specify the number of votes in its statement; however, Israeli media reported that all ministers from the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties opposed the deal, with the exception of Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer.
U.S. President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, along with his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, participated in the cabinet meeting for about an hour.
Witkoff has been the primary U.S. mediator in ceasefire negotiations since the beginning of Trump’s second term, and he and Kushner, who joined the negotiations more recently, arrived in Egypt on Wednesday shortly before the agreement was reached.
Later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the cabinet, noting that the goal of releasing “all of the hostages, the living and the dead,” was nearing realization.
“We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with [Strategic Affairs Minister] Ron [Dermer] and his team, our team. That, and the courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza, had a combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
According to The Times of Israel, several countries—including Turkey, Israel, the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt—will collaborate in a joint multinational task force aimed at locating the remains of the deceased hostages in Gaza.
The task force was established during negotiations held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which also resulted in a peace agreement and a deal to release the hostages, the outlet reported.
During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump discussed the peace plan and stated that the remaining hostages, who are still alive and held by Hamas in Gaza, are expected to be released on Monday or Tuesday.
He also mentioned plans to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt for the agreement.
“Last night, we reached a momentous breakthrough in the Middle East, something that people said was never going to be done,” Trump told reporters. “We ended the war in Gaza, and really, on a much bigger basis, created peace.”
The president also acknowledged the challenges in securing the release of the 28 deceased hostages, noting that some of their remains are “a little bit hard to find.”
“But we have the hostages for the most part, and I don’t think it’s going to be an overly big situation with the bodies …, But we’re going to do the best we can,” Trump said.
