Israeli military says Gaza ceasefire has started

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The Israeli military said a ceasefire in Gaza had gone into effect, paving the way for the release of hostages held in the strip and setting in motion the first phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Palestinian territory.

The Israel Defense Forces said that, as of noon local time, its troops had begun a partial withdrawal, pulling back to “updated deployment lines in preparation for the ceasefire agreement and the return of hostages”.

It came hours after the Israeli cabinet approved the first phase of the US-brokered deal, which is designed to end Israel’s two-year war against Hamas in Gaza.

The agreement marks the most significant breakthrough in months to end the longest and deadliest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which started after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel.

Under the first phase of the deal, the militant group will release the remaining 48 hostages held in the strip — 20 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Friday’s troop pullback still leaves the IDF in control of more than half of Gaza, and any further withdrawal depends on the progress of negotiations to fulfil the rest of Trump’s plan to end the war.

The second phase of the agreement calls for the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international stabilisation force and the staggered withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has so far only committed to the hostage-prisoner exchange.

Hamas’s political chief Khalil al-Hayya had said on Thursday that the group had received guarantees from Washington that the conflict in Gaza would end “completely”.

Palestinian officials have demanded that the UN and others should immediately be allowed to provide vast amounts of food and medicine to starving Gazans, and warned locals to avoid rushing back to their homes while the situation on the ground remained precarious.