KEY POINTS
- Hamas and Israel sign a US-mediated ceasefire deal in Sharm al-Sheikh.
- Deal includes a ceasefire, aid delivery, and hostage-prisoner exchange.
- Israeli troops will pull back within 24 hours of signing.
- Trump hails the deal as “a great day for the world.”
- Hamas rejects Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” to govern post-war Gaza.
- Gaza’s death toll exceeds 67,183, with famine and destruction widespread.
- Muslim countries insist the plan must lead to a Palestinian state.
CAIRO, Egypt: Hamas and Israel on Thursday signed a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange agreement — the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza — aimed at ending more than two years of devastating Israeli military offensive that has killed over 67,183 Palestinians since October 2023.
Officials on both sides confirmed they had signed the deal following indirect talks in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. The ceasefire deal’s announcement had been greeted with celebrations among Palestinians and Israelis alike.
The deal includes the release of hostages and prisoners as well as a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of “genocide” after Israel started bombing the Palestinian enclave following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the ceasefire would take effect once the agreement is ratified by his government, which would convene after a security cabinet meeting today.
An Israeli government spokeswoman, confirming the deal had been signed, said the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting. After that 24-hour period, the hostages held in Gaza will be freed within 72 hours, she said.
A source briefed on details of the agreement said earlier that Israeli troops would begin pulling back within 24 hours of the deal being signed.
Hamas rejects Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan on Thursday told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby the Palestinian group rejects Trump’s proposal for an interim “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s administration, headed by the US president himself.
Trump’s 20-point peace plan, on which the indirect negotiations were based, calls for the disarmament of Hamas and for post-war Gaza to be ruled by a transitional authority governed by a board headed by Trump.
“No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,” Hamdan told Al Araby Television Network.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has said he hoped the Gaza deal could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have vowed to block such a move.
Under Trump’s plan, a temporary technocratic and apolitical Palestinian committee is charged with the day-to-day running of public services.
The supervisory “Board of Peace” committee Trump has said he would chair will also include former British prime minister Tony Blair.
“No one would accept a return to the era of mandates and colonialism,” Hamdan said.
The board is also set to handle funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until the Palestinian Authority completes a reform programme and takes back control of the territory, under Trump’s plan.
Hostage-prisoner exchange
An Israeli official said all 20 Israeli captives still believed to be alive in Gaza after being seized by Hamas would be released.
The prisoners released in exchange will not include Marwan Barghouti, one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners, the spokeswoman said.
Hamas would release all captives while Israel would pull its troops back to an agreed-upon line, Trump had said after talks in Egypt on his 20-point peace plan resulted in a deal.
Qatar had said the deal was the “first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid”.
Hamas will exchange 20 living captives for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of a deal, a source within the Palestinian group said, as cited by AFP.
The exchange will take place within 72 hours of the implementation of the agreement, which is expected to be signed on Thursday, a source familiar with the negotiations, cited by AFP, said.
The captives will be released in exchange for 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, the source added.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
‘Israel will withdraw troops’
“This means that 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.”
Trump also thanked mediators Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye, adding: “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
"I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan… BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!" – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/lAUxi1UPYh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 8, 2025
He also told Reuters that a Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal hammered out in Egypt represented “a great day for the world”.
“The whole world has come together on this one, Israel, every country has come together. This has been a fantastic day,” Trump told Reuters in a brief telephone interview.
“This is a great day for the world. This is a wonderful day, a wonderful day for everybody,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would bring the Israeli captives home “with God’s help”.
With God's help we will bring them all home.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 8, 2025
In a separate post on X, he said: “With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home.”
“Through steadfast resolve, powerful military action, and the great efforts of our great friend and ally President Trump, we have reached this critical turning point,” Netanyahu said, thanking the US president for “his leadership, his partnership, and his unwavering commitment to the safety of Israel and the freedom of our hostages”.
With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home. This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel.
From the beginning, I made it clear: we will not rest until all our hostages return and all our goals…
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 8, 2025
Trump said earlier that he may travel to the Middle East this week as a deal was “very close”.
In a dramatic moment, AFP reported that its journalists saw US Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupt an event at the White House and 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 war-torn Gaza.
Watch as Donald Trump is handed a note by Marco Rubio during an event at the White House.
He tells reporters: ‘I was just given a note saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East and they’re going to need me pretty quickly’https://t.co/n5edP0ayFu
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/iCKA1W5Gdu
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 8, 2025
Trump’s plan called for a ceasefire, the release of all the captives held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived at the talks earlier.
An Israeli government spokesperson said the captives’ release was expected to begin on Saturday. Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ programme on Wednesday that captives held in Gaza will probably be released on Monday.
Devastation in Gaza
The negotiations were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed at least 67,183 people, according to the health ministry in the territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
The territory’s civil defence agency, a rescue force, said the bombardment of Gaza had not stopped in the hours before the deal.
Global pressure to end the conflict has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and Israeli captive families still longing for their loved ones’ return.
One key to the negotiations was the names of the Palestinian prisoners Hamas pushed for.
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”.
The next phase of Trump’s plan calls for an international body led by Trump and including former British prime minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration.
Arab countries which back the plan, say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu says will never happen.
Hamas has said it would relinquish Gaza governance only to a Palestinian technocrat government supervised by the Palestinian Authority and backed by Arab and Muslim countries. It rejects any role for Blair or foreign rule of Gaza.
