Israeli Ministers Approve Gaza Hostage Release Deal
BBC News
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Israel has approved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says in a statement
Netanyahu calls it a "momentous development" and thanks President Donald Trump, as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner – who both attended the Israeli cabinet meeting
Trump says Israeli hostages could be released on "Monday or Tuesday"
As well as the ceasefire and hostages, the first phase of an agreement would also see Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners; Israeli troops beginning to withdraw from parts of Gaza; and hundreds of trucks of aid a day entering Gaza
As music blares in the streets of Jerusalem, our correspondent there summarises what happens next
This is a major moment – but it's a ceasefire, not a peace deal, writes Lyse Doucet. The toughest of issues are still on the table
Edited by Helen Sullivan and Chris Graham, with reporting from Alice Cuddy in Tel Aviv and Barbara Plett Usher in Jerusalem
"The gravity of the moment can not be underestimated" says Jan Egeland, who currently heads the Norwegian Refugee Council. He also played a role in brokering the Oslo accords – a series of deals in the 1990s that established the Palestinian Authority and were meant to pave the way for lasting peace.
He says his expectation is that, as soon as a ceasefire starts, his organisation can start sending hundreds of trucks of aid into Gaza every single day.
Egeland says he has 65 staff inside Gaza who are ready to start distributions, of "hundreds in truckloads that have been stuck in Egypt for many months".
For Egeland, getting this aid into Gaza is a crucial part of securing peace in the longer term: "Everything is connected to everything".
"if there is no relief it would be nonsensical to believe there would be a political settlement," he says.
He's feeling hopeful: "It's our best chance now for decades" he says, "since the Oslo agreement that I was part of in 1993, we haven't had such an opportunity to not only have a ceasefire that lasts, but also have peace."
The Israeli government approved the ceasefire agreement a few hours ago, but it's not yet clear if the ceasefire has already gone into effect.
In announcing that it had agreed to the deal, the Israeli government did not specify whether the ceasefire had officially started.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told Fox News earlier today that there would be a ceasefire "immediately after" the Israeli government makes its decision to approve the deal.
But the Palestinian Information Centre has reported in the last hour that military activity in Gaza is continuing, including a launch of smoke bombs in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood of western Gaza and aircraft targeting in Gaza City.
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Watch: How Trump's relationships helped pull off a Gaza deal
In this short video, listen to BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher explain how key events during Trump's first presidency and his current term influenced the US leader's ability to pressure Israel into a ceasefire deal.
They include Trump's close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump's unconventional style of diplomacy and his close business ties with Qatar and UAE also played a part in the Gaza deal.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave his first interview in years to Israeli media earlier today.
He said he is hopeful about the ceasefire deal and wants lasting peace.
"What happened today is a historic moment. We have been hoping – and continue to hope – that we can bring an end to the bloodshed taking place in our land, whether in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem," he told Israel's Channel 12.
"Today, we are very happy that the bloodshed has ceased. We hope it remains this way, and that peace, security, and stability will prevail between us and Israel."
Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has been working with US President Donald Trump to launch some reforms.
"Some have already been completed, and others are ongoing, until the PA becomes a model capable of continuing to lead the Palestinian people," Abbas said.
The Palestinian Authority is preparing for a role in the post-war governance of Gaza, according to reporting from the Reuters news agency.
"We're already there," Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa has told Reuters.
Currently, how the territory will be governed in the future is still unclear.
Under Trump's plan, Gaza will be temporarily governed by a "technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee", before being handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu appeared to push back on this in his joint press conference last week with Trump, insisting it would play no role in governing the territory.
In his comments to Reuters, Mustafa said that he had already nominated 5,500 Palestinians to be part of a new Gaza police force being trained by Egypt and that his goal is to train 10,000 people.
The UN says that, as of 20 August, 86% of the Gaza Strip was in either a militarised zone or under evacuation orders.
That means that only 14% of Gaza, which has a population of 2.1 million people, remains free from these zones, including in areas like Al-Mawasi on the coast in the south west of the territory where many people are living in shelters.
The Israeli military either controls or has ordered evacuations in 86% of the Gaza Strip, according to the UN
The Gaza Strip has a long road to recovery and reconstruction. As of 8 July, the UN assessed that 78% of Gaza's buildings had been damaged since the start of the war almost two years prior.
The below map shows the concentration of damage in different areas of the Gaza Strip using radar. While this can show clusters of destruction in the Strip, there may be incidents where houses have their windows or doors destroyed, but they are not picked up by radar as the main foundations are still standing.
The majority of buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed
Gaza mother Laila Ezzat Al Shana, 22, gave birth during the war and was sometimes nursing her son under heavy fire
Gaza mother Laila Ezzat Al Shana, 22, has just been speaking to the BBC about her joy at the news that fighting may soon stop, but also said her family is mourning the attack on a residential flat that buried some 40 Palestinians beneath the rubble just a few hours ago.
"Today it was so beautiful because they announced the ceasefire," she said.
"The people were screaming. They were singing. Some people were shooting guns in the sky for the happiness. Some women cried."
People were celebrating, she said, because "after two years we are alive! We survived this genocide".
But she also accused Israel of committing a "massacre" in the final hours before the ceasefire begins. She says the sound of Israel's bombing has continued throughout the day.
Al Shana gave birth during the war. During that time, many of her family members have died, including her father, her uncle and several cousins.
She also described the scariest moment of her life, which she said came as she was nursing her new born inside her home as her neighbourhood came under bombardment.
"Suddenly, we hear the huge bombing and we see the home filled with dust. And I can't see, I can't hear anything. I have my son and I stayed at my place.
"Then I realized that it's inside the home. We survived by a miracle that night."
She also said she has high hopes for the future, and called on all sides to open the Gaza-Egypt border to evacuate the wounded.
Gaza City on 9 October
If completed, the first phase of Trump's 20-point plan will be followed by negotiations over the details of the later phases – but many of these points could be hard to reach an agreement on.
The proposal, which you can read in full here, says that if it is agreed by both sides, the war would "immediately end".
It says Gaza would be demilitarised and all "military, terror and offensive infrastructure" would be destroyed.
It also says Gaza would be governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats – supervised by a "Board of Peace" headed and chaired by Donald Trump and involving former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Governance of the Strip would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority, once it has been reformed.
Hamas would have no future role in the governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly, according to the plan.
Hamas members would be offered amnesty if they committed to peaceful co-existence or be provided safe passage to another country.
No Palestinians would be forced to leave Gaza and those who wished to leave would be free to return.
A "Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza" would be created by a panel of experts.
Read more about the agreement: What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal
Israel signing off on the ceasefire deal has set several things in motion – both in the short term and the long term.
Here are four things that are expected to happen immediately now that the deal is done:
1. A ceasefire in Gaza
Now the agreement has been formally approved by the Israeli cabinet, a ceasefire is expected to take effect.
Reports in Israeli media suggest this will happen immediately, although a spokesperson for the prime minister's office said it would begin within 24 hours of the cabinet's approval.
2. Israeli troops will withdraw
The Israeli military will withdraw to a line that will leave it in control of about 53% of the Strip, the spokesperson said. According to a map distributed by the White House last week, this is the first of three stages of Israeli withdrawal.
3. A swap of hostages and bodies
After this, a 72-hour countdown will begin, during which Hamas must release all 20 of the hostages believed to be alive. The return of the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages would follow, although it is not clear how long that could take.
Israel would then release about 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC.
Israel will also return the bodies of 15 Gazans for the remains of each Israeli hostage, according to Trump's plan.
4. Humanitarian aid would enter Gaza
Hundreds of lorries carrying humanitarian aid will also start entering Gaza, where a famine was confirmed by UN-backed experts in August.
Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem
From the very beginning of Thursday, we had heard that this deal was made. Israelis and Gazans alike were both celebrating. However, it was just after midnight on Friday that the news became official.
The Israeli cabinet approved the deal after an hours-long meeting which included lots of speeches being made, as well as the presence of two US envoys.
Speeches also came from critics, including one far-right cabinet member who accused the Americans of "making peace with Hitler".
The deal has passed, and that now clears the way for the ceasefire to take effect. This triggers a series of steps which should lead to the release of hostages in the next few days.
Israel's military has withdrawn, but is still now in control of more than half of Gaza. Hamas is now beginning to transfer the hostages, and is preparing the bodies of the hostages who have died. Hamas is still looking for the bodies of some of those hostages, which are buried under rubble.
Israel is preparing for the release of Palestinian prisoners, including several whose release has been very controversial.
The UN will then surge in with a flood aid, which is also part of the first phase of Trump's ceasefire plan.
From our live position in Jerusalem, we can hear blaring music playing in the streets.
We can bring you more comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Gaza ceasefire deal, made before his government approved it a short while ago:
"We are at a momentous development," he said in an address to government ministers.
"We have fought during these two years to achieve our war aims, and one of the central aims is the return of the hostages – all of them, the living and the dead. And we are about to achieve that goal."
He went on to thank the "extraordinary help of President Trump and his team – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner".
He also praised the "courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza" and the "combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas".
On the ceasefire deal, he said Witkoff and Kushner worked around the clock to get the deal over the line.
"We know this is for the benefit of Israel and the benefit of the United States, for the good of decent people everywhere, and for these families who will finally be able to reunite with their loved ones. I want to thank you both in their name, and on behalf of the people of Israel."
US special envoy Steve Witkoff addressed the cabinet during their meeting, before they approved the deal.
"The hard job was the Prime Minister's," he said, referring to Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.
"He had the job of making tough choices – how tough to be with Hamas, when to be flexible, when not to be."
Witkoff, who has been closely involved in negotiating the Gaza ceasefire deal, said US President Donald Trump believes that Netanyahu "made very difficult calls, and lesser people would not have made those calls".
He added: "And here we are today because Hamas had to. They had to, they were backed up. And you have got the bigger army. You were making inroads and that's what led to this deal."
Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent
A multinational force of some 200 troops overseen by the US military will monitor the Gaza ceasefire, according to a senior US official.
The force’s makeup is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE. The official said their role will be to “oversee, observe [and] make sure there are no violations or incursions” of the ceasefire in Gaza.
A second senior US official said no US forces would be on the ground in Gaza, adding that the American role was to create the Joint Control Centre which will “integrate” the multinational force going in.
The force is being established under the leadership of Adm. Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM). Cooper joined the American delegation for part of the talks in Egypt, said the first official.
The official said the multinational force will inform both the Israelis and Hamas via Egypt and Qatar of the situation on the ground and any potential violations of the truce.
Israel's government has approved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says in a statement.
"The government has just approved the framework for the release of all the hostages — both the living and the deceased," the statement says. 
Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Tel Aviv
It’s late at night here in Tel Aviv, and while many people have headed home, dozens are still gathered in Hostages Square as Israeli ministers are meeting to discuss whether they should approve the Gaza ceasefire plan.
Those still here are now standing around a piano dedicated to hostage Alon Ohel – a pianist who is among those still being held in Gaza – and singing along to live music.
I’ve just been speaking to 29-year-old Tova, who tells me she has been coming to the square every week.
“We’ve been fighting for two years now… I came here just to feel it,” she says.Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem
Approval by the Israeli cabinet would be the last step needed to set the deal in motion.
US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are attending the meeting, and Israeli media has reported that ministers broke into applause when they entered.
Trump himself expects to head to the Middle East on Sunday once the agreement gets the nod from the Israeli government, and a ceasefire would go into force.
The military will pull back from the frontline, and the clock starts ticking towards the release of the hostages in a few days' time.
The UN is poised to begin sending much more aid into Gaza, where famine has been declared in some areas.
Far-right members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition have long opposed any deal with Hamas and said they’d vote against it. One of them warned he would push to topple Netanyahu’s government unless the Palestinian militant group was ultimately dismantled.
The Trump plan calls for Hamas to disarm, although it has always refused to do so. It’s main concern in talks thus far is that Israel will go back to war as soon as the hostages are freed.
A senior Hamas official has said today that the group received guarantees from the United States, Arab mediators, and Turkey that the war in Gaza has permanently ended.
(From left) Steve Witkoff, Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's X account has just shared photos from the cabinet meeting, which is happening now.
Netanyahu is pictured seated next to US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The speaker of the Knesset [Israeli parliament] confirms his office has invited President Donald Trump to give a speech.
"It is my profound honor and privilege to officially invite the greatest friend and ally of the Jewish people in modern history," Speaker Amir Ohana writes of Trump, external, "to deliver a formal address to the nation before the Knesset."
"Israel awaits The Peace President," Ohana adds.
Earlier, Trump said he had accepted an offer to speak, incorrectly stating that it marks the first time a US president has ever done so.
Ohana's office notes that Trump will be the first US president to speak before the Knesset since George W. Bush in 2008.
We don't yet know when Trump will speak, but earlier today he told the New York Post he would "probably" go to the Middle East on Sunday.
Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, tells Radio 4's The World at One that the Palestinian Authority (PA) "absolutely welcome" the Gaza ceasefire deal "as a first step towards a new future" – but adds that "this is not a time to relax".
"We have experience with Netanyahu," Zomlot says, adding that the Israeli prime minister "looks for loopholes" and "doesn't want to end this".
For context, Zomlot is the UK representative for the PA, which holds partial control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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