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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the government had “approved the framework” of a hostage release deal with Hamas, as both sides edged closer to ending more than two years of hostilities in Gaza.Israel previously said “all parties” had signed the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would “bring the end to this war”.The accord in Egypt follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to leave on Sunday for the Middle East.Egypt is planning an event to celebrate the conclusion of the deal, with Trump also expected to stop in Israel and consider going to devastated Gaza.The Israeli government had said the ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of meetings on Thursday to approve the deal, under which the military should eventually withdraw from Gaza.And in a statement early on Friday, Netanyahu’s office said the government had “approved the framework for the release of all the hostages — both the living and the deceased”.Netanyahu had faced pushback from his far-right allies, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying he would vote against the agreement, calling the plan to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 47 hostages remaining in Gaza “an unbearable heavy price”.Despite celebrations in Israel and Gaza and a flood of messages from world leaders hailing the deal, numerous issues remain unsettled, including the plan’s call for Hamas to disarm and a proposed transitional authority for Gaza led by Trump himself.Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian Islamist movement rejected the latter.”No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,” Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby.Trump said the issue of Hamas surrendering its weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan.”There will be disarming,” he told reporters, adding there would also be “pullbacks” by Israeli forces.Senior US officials said a military team of 200 people, led by US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, would be deployed in the Middle East to “oversee” the truce.One official said Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and probably Emirati military officials would be embedded in the team. A second official said “no US troops are intended to go into Gaza”.- ‘Tears of joy’ -Confirming that the first-phase draft had been signed by “all parties” early Thursday, Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that “all of our hostages, the living and the deceased, will be released 72 hours later, which will bring us to Monday”.Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the release of the hostages “should bring the end to this war”.In a rare interview with an Israeli network, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the Channel 12 broadcaster that “what happened today is a historic moment”.”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.US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner travelled to Jerusalem Thursday night, where they met both Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, their offices said.Israeli media reported that the pair later participated in the government meeting held to approve the plan.The deal, thrashed out in indirect, closed-door talks in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, also envisions a surge of aid into Gaza, where the UN has declared famine.The announcement sparked joy in Gaza, much of which has been flattened by Israel’s offensive.”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 Palestinian Samer Joudeh told AFP.In Israel, thousands of people gathered in a Tel Aviv square to celebrate, some holding photos of hostages still in Gaza and waving 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.Hamas has submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase.The list names 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, according to a Hamas source.- Explosions continue -The talks were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas’s authority, reported several strikes on the territory after the announcement of the deal.AFP journalists and witnesses said more explosions and artillery fire could be heard Thursday evening in southern and central Gaza.burs/ser/jhb/jsa/sbk/mjw/tc

Israel said Thursday all parties have signed the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would “bring the end to this war”.The agreement in Egypt follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump, after more than two years of war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.Trump said he planned to leave on Sunday for the Middle East. Egypt is planning an event to celebrate the conclusion of the agreement, with the US president also expected to stop in Israel and consider going to devastated Gaza.Despite celebrations in Israel and Gaza and a flood of messages from world leaders hailing the deal, numerous issues remain unsettled, including the plan’s call for Hamas to disarm and a proposed transitional authority for Gaza led by Trump himself.Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian Islamist movement rejected the latter.”No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,” Hamdan told Qatar-based broadcaster Al Araby.Trump said the issue of Hamas surrendering its weapons would be addressed in the second phase of the peace plan.”There will be disarming,” he told reporters, adding there would also be “pullbacks” by Israeli forces.The Israeli government said the ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of meetings on Thursday to approve the deal, under which the military should withdraw from Gaza.Early on Friday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government had “approved the framework for the release of all the hostages — both the living and the deceased”.Netanyahu had faced pushback from his far-right allies, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying he would vote against the agreement, calling the plan to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 47 hostages remaining in Gaza “an unbearable heavy price”.- ‘Tears of joy’ -Confirming that the first-phase draft had been signed by “all parties” early Thursday, Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that “all of our hostages, the living and the deceased, will be released 72 hours later, which will bring us to Monday”.Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the release of the hostages “should bring the end to this war”.In a rare interview with an Israeli network, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the Channel 12 broadcaster that “what happened today is a historic moment”.”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.”US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner travelled to Jerusalem Thursday night, where they met both Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, their offices said.Israeli media reported that the pair later participated in the government meeting held to approve the plan.The deal, thrashed out in indirect, closed-door talks in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, also envisions a surge of aid into Gaza, where the UN has declared famine.The announcement sparked joy in Gaza, much of which has been flattened by Israel’s offensive.”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 Palestinian Samer Joudeh told AFP.In Israel, thousands of people gathered in a Tel Aviv square to celebrate, some holding photos of hostages still in Gaza and waving 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.While Arab leaders said they hoped the ceasefire would lead to a permanent solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, there was no indication the talks were addressing any of the deeper issues at stake.Hamas has submitted a list of Palestinian prisoners it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase.The list names 250 Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,700 others arrested by Israel since the war began, according to a Hamas source.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.However, Israel said Barghouti would not be part of the exchange.- Explosions continue -The talks were taking place under the shadow of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas’s authority, reported several strikes on the territory after the announcement of the deal.AFP journalists and witnesses said more explosions and artillery fire could be heard Thursday evening in southern and central Gaza.burs/ser/jhb/jsa/sbk/mjw

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, in a rare interview with an Israeli network Thursday, expressed hope that peace would prevail between Palestinians and Israelis following the signing of a Gaza ceasefire agreement.”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,” Abbas 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.”While the questions were asked in Hebrew, Abbas responded in Arabic.When asked whether the Palestinian Authority (PA) had implemented the reforms mentioned by US President Donald Trump in his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, Abbas said that the reform process was already underway.”I want to say honestly — we have launched reforms,” Abbas said.”These reforms include the salaries to prisoners that we agreed with the US and which the US approved,” he said, referring to payments disbursed by the PA to the families of Palestinians killed by Israel or imprisoned in Israeli jails, including many detained for attacks on Israelis.Abbas announced a reform to that payment scheme, that critics refer to as “pay-to-slay” in February, under pressure from the US and Israel, which described it as “funding for terrorism”. Several Palestinian officials condemned the decision then.In his interview to Israel’s Channel 12 Thursday, Abbas added that other reforms in sectors such as education, economy, health sector, and security were all under implementation. “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.Trump, along with other international leaders and organisations, has urged Abbas to reform the Palestinian Authority.According to Trump’s 20-point plan, “while Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

US President Donald Trump said he expected to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to celebrate the first phase of the Gaza peace deal and be there for the release of hostages by Hamas. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump said the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed group had “ended the war in Gaza.”The US leader added that “nobody’s going to be forced to leave” the Palestinian territory under his 20-point peace plan, which formed the basis for indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt.He said he hoped to travel to Israel, where he may address parliament, and maybe to Egypt.”The hostages will be coming back Monday or Tuesday. I’ll probably be there, I hope to be there,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.But Trump said that the bodies of some of the dead hostages would be “hard to find.” Hamas took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has devastated the territory and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. – ‘Disarming, pullbacks’ -Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had invited his US counterpart to take part in a “celebration to be held in Egypt” for the agreement for the first phase of a ceasefire.The Republican gave few details about the second phase of the peace deal and the future of Gaza.During an earlier meeting of his cabinet, Trump said “there will be disarming, there will be pullbacks,” in apparent reference to Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm and calls by the Palestinian group for Israel to withdraw its forces, but did not elaborate.He added that Gaza would be “slowly redone” and indicated that Arab states with “tremendous wealth” would help it rebuild, as well as possibly taking part in peacekeeping efforts.- ‘High degree of intensity’ -Trump, who in February proposed that the US take over Gaza, also rejected speculation that Palestinians could be forced out of the devastated enclave.”Nobody’s going to be forced to leave. No, it’s just the opposite. This is a great plan,” Trump said.Trump, however, played down the question of whether he would achieve his long-held dream of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, whose laureate is announced on Friday.”I don’t know what they’re going to do, really. But I know this, that nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months,” he said in response to a question by an AFP reporter.His cabinet officials lined up to praise him, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had on Wednesday handed the US president a note during an event saying a deal was imminent.”Frankly, I don’t know of any American president in the modern era that could have made this possible,” Rubio said during the cabinet meeting.Rubio also hinted at the tough negotiations that led to the agreement, which saw Trump pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rally Arab and Muslim states to lean on Hamas.”One day, perhaps the entire story will be told,” Rubio said.”The president had some extraordinary phone calls and meetings that required a high degree of intensity and commitment and made this happen.”

The United Nations said Thursday it had a detailed 60-day plan to rush aid into Gaza once a ceasefire is declared to start helping Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory.”Our plan, detailed and tested, is in place,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN head of humanitarian operations.”Our supplies, 170,000 metric tons, food, medicine and other supplies, are in place. And our team, courageous and expert and determined, are in place,” Fletcher told a press conference by video link from Saudi Arabia.Large swathes of the besieged Palestinian territory have been largely reduced to rubble by Israel’s military offensive following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.Israel’s blockade has seen life-saving aid to Gaza slashed, with the UN declaring a famine in parts of Gaza and hundreds of Palestinians dying of malnutrition.Fletcher said that the UN aimed to surge aid into Gaza so that hundreds of trucks enter the territory every day.”Famine must be reverted in areas where it has taken hold and prevented in others,” Fletcher said.- Food, water, health care – The plan calls for providing food to 2.1 million people — almost Gaza’s entire population — and specific nutritional aid to 500,000 who are severely malnourished.The plan will give food to people and also support bakeries, collective kitchens, and provide cash for 200,000 people so they can choose what food they want to buy.The initiative will also seek to provide 1.4 million people with water and sanitation services.”We’ll help to restore the water grid,” said Fletcher. “We will repair sewage leaks and pumping stations. We will move solid waste away from residential spaces, and will provide hygiene supplies, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, sanitary pads.” The United Nations will work to restore Gaza’s decimated health care system — crippled by Israel’s military operations — by providing equipment and medicine, among other assistance.”We’ll help scale up emergency care, primary health, child health, sexual reproductive, maternal and neonatal health, non-communicable diseases, mental health and rehabilitation,” said Fletcher.With most of the buildings in Gaza destroyed by Israel’s offensive, the plan calls for bringing in thousands of tents per week.The United Nations also wants to get temporary schools set up for 700,000 children.But Fletcher said that for all this to succeed, there were a number of critical things that also needed to happen.They include sustained entry of at least 1.9 million liters of fuel every week and resumption of the flow of cooking gas.He said relief supplies need to come in through multiple corridors, and there need to be more scanners in place so aid convoys can move more swiftly, plus security guarantees to prevent looting.He said aid needs to come in unimpeded and there has to be money to pay for all of this. At the moment, only 28 percent of the $4 billion in a UN appeal for Gaza has been funded, said Fletcher.And the UN will need to go beyond the 170,000 tons of aid it now has pre-positioned in Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Cyprus, which is not enough for the first 60 days after the war ends.”Let’s be clear, this problem won’t go away in two months,” said Fletcher.

The price of silver hit a multi-decade high on Thursday as investors kept flocking to safe havens amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty, while gold eased off a record run.Stock markets, meanwhile, were mixed as traders weighed a slew of issues: massive AI investments, corporate results, US interest rates, the US government shutdown, political turmoil in …

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