JERUSALEM: Israel said on Thursday all parties have signed the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would &quot;bring the end to this war.&quot; 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&#39;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&#39;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 movement rejected the latter. &quot;No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this,&quot; 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. &quot;There will be disarming,&quot; he told reporters, adding there would also be &quot;pullbacks&quot; 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 would withdraw from Gaza. Early on Friday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government had &quot;approved the framework for the release of all the hostages &mdash; both the living and the deceased.&quot; 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 &quot;an unbearable heavy price.&quot; &#39;Tears of joy&#39;&nbsp;Confirming that the first-phase draft had been signed by &quot;all parties&quot; early Thursday, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that &quot;all of our hostages, the living and the deceased, will be released 72 hours later, which will bring us to Monday.&quot; Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the release of the hostages &quot;should bring the end to this war.&quot; In a rare interview with an Israeli network, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the Channel 12 broadcaster that &quot;what happened today is a historic moment.&rdquo;&nbsp;&quot;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.&quot; US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner travelled to Jerusalem on 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&#39;s offensive. &quot;Honestly, when I heard the news, I couldn&#39;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,&quot; 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. &quot;We have been waiting for this day for 734 days. We cannot imagine being anywhere else this morning,&quot; 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 &mdash; from Hamas&#39;s rival, the Fatah movement &mdash; 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&nbsp;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, 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&#39;s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the 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&#39;s civil defense agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas&#39;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.

Middle East

Trump says he planned to leave on Sunday for Middle East; Egypt planning an event to celebrate conclusion of the agreement.



Israel says 'all parties' signed phase one of Gaza deal

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced Monday that Syria and Israel have entered &quot;advanced stages&quot; of discussions concerning a return to the 1974 armistice line, calling it a non-negotiable first step before any broader peace agreement can be considered.&nbsp;Al-Sharaa made the statement during the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit in New York, coinciding with his official visit to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held from September 23 to 29.&nbsp;The Syrian leader firmly ruled out Syria joining the Abraham Accords, citing key differences between Syria and the current signatory nations. &ldquo;There is a big difference between Syria and the countries that joined the Abraham Accords,&rdquo; he stated.&nbsp;Appointed president on January 29, 2025, by the Syrian General Command during the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, al-Sharaa was formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the early 2000s.&nbsp;He presented three primary reasons for Syria&rsquo;s stance:&nbsp;<ul><li>Israel&rsquo;s continued occupation of the Golan Heights, which he described as Syrian land under international law.</li><li>The fact that Abraham Accords members do not have land occupied by Israel.</li><li>The lack of shared borders between Israel and those signatory states.</li></ul>&nbsp;Despite expressing willingness to de-escalate tensions, al-Sharaa accused Israel of repeated aggression since his administration took power, claiming nearly 1,000 airstrikes and 400 ground incursions, including two bombings of the presidential palace.&nbsp;Still, he confirmed Syria is engaged in a multi-phase negotiation process. The first phase centers on a security agreement that would see Israel return to the 1974 disengagement lines established after the Yom Kippur War.&nbsp;&ldquo;If this succeeds,&rdquo; al-Sharaa said, &ldquo;perhaps this scene will evolve to discuss other issues related to the occupied Golan and the future of the relationship.&rdquo;&nbsp;He concluded, &ldquo;Discussions are underway regarding the 1974 security or armistice agreement, and I believe we have reached advanced stages.&rdquo;

Ahmed al-Sharaa stated peace with Israel requires returning to the 1974 armistice line, rejecting the Abraham Accords and accusing Israel of ongoing aggression, while confirming advanced talks on a phased negotiation process.

Israel must return to 1974 armistice line before peace talks: Syrian president

Reuters

ISALAMABAD: Israel&#39;s Airports Authority said on Sunday that a drone launched from Yemen struck the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport near the Red Sea city of Eilat.It said takeoffs and landings at the airport were halted, while it was working to restore normal operations as soon as possible.The Israeli military said it was investigating the crash of a drone that was launched from Yemen and fell in the airport&#39;s area.It said the incident was under review without providing details on the impact. It did not specify if the drone had fallen after it was intercepted or if it had been a direct hit.&nbsp;The airport located near the resort city of Eilat on the border with Jordan and Egypt mostly handles domestic flights.Houthis actions in &#39;solidarity with Palestinians&#39;The Iran-backed Houthis have been launching missiles and drones thousands of kilometres north towards Israel, in what the group says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.Israel has retaliated by bombing Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. Its latest blow killed senior Houthi officials, including the head of the government.The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.&nbsp;

A drone launched from Yemen struck the arrivals hall at Israel’s Ramon Airport near Eilat, halting flights. The Israeli military said the incident is under investigation, while Houthi forces continue long-range attacks in solidarity with Palestinians

Articles tagged with "Middle East"

Israel says 'all parties' signed phase one of Gaza deal

Israel must return to 1974 armistice line before peace talks: Syrian president

Drone launched from Yemen struck arrivals hall at Ramon airport in Israel