{"id":110593,"date":"2025-10-09T07:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/110593\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:10:11","slug":"israel-and-hamas-agree-to-gaza-ceasefire-and-return-of-hostages-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/110593\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire and return of hostages \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel and Hamas<\/a> said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of US<\/a> president Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s plan to end a war in Gaza<\/a> that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East. Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants\u2019 cross-border attack that triggered Israel\u2019s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump\u2019s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian<\/a> enclave. The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, deepened Israel\u2019s international isolation and reshaped the Middle East.<\/p>\n

News of the deal prompted celebrations in Israel<\/a>, Gaza and beyond, with Israeli families of hostages letting off fireworks, while Palestinians clapped and cheered in hopes of an end to the bloodshed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing,\u201d said Abdul Majeed abd Rabbo, a man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the agreement announced by Mr Trump late on Wednesday was short on detail and left many unresolved questions that could yet lead to its collapse, as has happened with previous peace efforts. \u201cI am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,\u201d Mr Trump said on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d Mr Trump added.<\/p>\n

Successful completion of the deal would mark a significant foreign policy achievement for the Republican president, who had campaigned on bringing peace to major world conflicts but has struggled to swiftly deliver, both in Gaza and on Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"RelativesRelatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip celebrate after the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti\/AP <\/p>\n

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a> said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThis is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe affirm that the sacrifices of our people will not be in vain, and that we will remain true to our pledge – never abandoning our people\u2019s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved,\u201d Hamas said. Gaza authorities say more than 67,000 people have been killed and much of the enclave has been flattened since Israel began its military response to the Hamas cross-border attack on October 7th, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli officials, with 20 of the 48 hostages still held believed to be alive. Despite the hopes raised for ending the war, crucial details are yet to be spelled out, including the timing, a postwar administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas.<\/p>\n

Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gathered in what has come to be known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv after the announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump, thank you very much. We thank him, our children will not have returned home without him,\u201d said Hatan Angrest, whose son Matan is among the hostages.<\/p>\n

A Hamas source said the living hostages would be handed over within 72 hours of the Israeli government approving the deal. Hamas officials have insisted it will take longer to recover the bodies of dead hostages, believed to number about 28, from Gaza\u2019s rubble.<\/p>\n

Trump told Fox News\u2019s Hannity programme on Wednesday that the hostages will probably be released on Monday.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military warned residents in Gaza that some areas there are still dangerous combat zones. Forces continue to encircle Gaza City, and returning there remains \u201cextremely dangerous,\u201d a military spokesperson said on Thursday in a statement following the ceasefire announcement.<\/p>\n

Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump spoke by phone and congratulated each other on an \u201chistoric achievement\u201d, and the Israeli prime minister invited the US president to address Israel\u2019s parliament, according to Netanyahu\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

United Nations secretary general Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> called for all sides to abide fully by the terms on the hostage agreement. \u201cImmediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian supplies and essential commercial materials into Gaza must be ensured. The suffering must end,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Hamas said earlier on Wednesday it had handed over its lists of the hostages it held and the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel that it wanted to be exchanged.<\/p>\n

Hamas has so far refused to discuss Israel\u2019s demand that Hamas give up its arms, which the Palestinian source said Hamas would reject as long as Israeli troops occupy Palestinian land.<\/p>\n

Oil prices fell as the prospects of a ceasefire lessened one potential disruption to world supplies.<\/p>\n

The next phase of Mr Trump\u2019s plan calls for an international body led by Mr Trump and including former British prime minister Tony Blair<\/a> to play a role in Gaza\u2019s postwar administration. Arab countries that back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Mr Netanyahu says will never happen.<\/p>\n

There is no clear indication who will rule Gaza when the war ends. Mr Netanyahu, Mr Trump, western and Arab states have ruled out a role for Hamas, which has run Gaza since driving out Palestinian rivals in 2007.<\/p>\n

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 Mr Blair or foreign rule of Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw announced tonight was specific to the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners after long and arduous negotiation,\u201d said Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, director of Realign for Palestine at the Atlantic Council. \u201cI would personally venture out to say that the war is far from over and that we don\u2019t know what happens after this phase is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Global outrage has mounted against Israel\u2019s assault. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a U.N. inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defence after the 2023 Hamas attack. – Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[6222,9,10,356,13,14,3761,69,6,71,3857,11,12,15,16,5,72,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-110593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-binyamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-gaza-strip","15":"tag-hamas","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-israel","18":"tag-israel-hamas-conflict","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-palestine","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories","27":"tag-world","28":"tag-world-news","29":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}