CAIRO — Israel and Hamas have agreed to a pause in their devastating two-year war and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners — a breakthrough greeted with joy and relief Thursday but also caution.
Uncertainty remains about aspects of the broader ceasefire plan advanced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump — such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appear closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in Gaza.
The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
Even with the agreement expected to be finalized later in the day, Israeli strikes continued, with explosions seen Thursday in northern Gaza. At least 11 dead Palestinians and another 49 who were wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday.
An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines said Israel was continuing to hit targets that posed a threat to its troops as they reposition.
In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, celebrations were relatively muted and often colored by grief.
“I am happy and unhappy. We have lost a lot of people and lost loved ones, friends and family. We lost our homes,” said Mohammad Al-Farra. “Despite our happiness, we cannot help but think of what is to come. … The areas we are going back to, or intending to return to, are uninhabitable.”
In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy after Trump announced a deal late Wednesday.
In Jerusalem on Thursday, Sharon Canot celebrated with some others.
“We are so excited this morning. We cried all morning,” she said. “It’s been two years that we are in horror.”
Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not fully been made public. Some 20 of the 48 hostages still in captivity are believed to be alive.
In a short video posted by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump was seen speaking by phone to a group of elated hostage families.
“The hostages will come back,” said Trump, who is expected in the region in the coming days. “They are all coming back on Monday.”
Debate over prisoners
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to convene his smaller Security Cabinet and then the full Cabinet to approve the deal.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has opposed previous ceasefire deals, said he had “mixed emotions.”
While he welcomed the return of the hostages, he said he had “immense fear about the consequences of emptying the jails and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders” and called for Israel to continue trying to eradicate Hamas and to ensure Gaza is demilitarized once the hostages are released.
Hamas, meanwhile, called on Trump and the mediators to ensure that Israel implements “without disavowal or delay” the troop withdrawal, the entry of aid into Gaza and the exchange of prisoners. Hamas officials said nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be released, including 250 serving long sentences, while the rest are people who were detained during the war in Gaza.
The United Nations aid chief said 170,000 metric tons of aid was ready to go into Gaza.
Much speculation has focused on whether Marwan Barghouti — a senior Fatah leader in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, that erupted in 2000 — will be among them.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Thursday that “at this point Marwan Barghouti will not be part of this release.”
How the deal will unfold
The deal being submitted to Israel’s government and then expected to be signed in Egypt will include a list of prisoners to be released and maps for the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal to new positions in Gaza, according to two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks, a Hamas official and another official.
Israel will publish the list of the prisoners, and victims of their attacks will have 24 hours to lodge objections.
The withdrawal could start as soon as Thursday evening, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations.
As Trump indicated, the hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, the officials from Egypt and Hamas said, though the other official said they could occur as early as Sunday night.
Five border crossings would reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, allowing 400 trucks in the initial days and increasing to 600 trucks after that, the Egyptian and Hamas officials said.
The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The U.S. would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Turkey will “hopefully take part in the task force that will monitor the implementation of the agreement on the ground.” Turkey, which has close ties to Hamas, helped broker the deal, along with the U.S., Egypt and Qatar.
After withdrawing from agreed-upon areas of Gaza, the Israeli military will still control 53% of the enclave, Bedrosian said.
The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.
The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.
After the deal was agreed to, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi met Thursday with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Cairo.
In a statement after the meeting, Sissi said he is eager to celebrate the signing of the agreement and reiterated his invitation to Trump to visit Egypt to witness it “in a ceremony befitting the occasion.” Witkoff and Kushner later landed in Israel, according to an official who was not authorized to speak to the media.
Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led assault that triggered the war, and 251 were taken hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
