Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza: What to know about proposed deal and next steps
LONDON and TEL AVIV -- The Israeli Parliament met on Thursday to vote on whether to ratify the proposed Gaza Strip ceasefire deal, which lays out a blueprint for ending the two-year-old war with Hamas.
The Israeli government gathered for the meeting after the security cabinet, convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met earlier on Thursday and approved the deal.
The ratification votes by Israel came after days of intense negotiations in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Israeli and Hamas representatives hashed out the final details of a plan based on the 20-point proposal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump last month.
A senior Israeli official told ABC News that the 72-hour window for Hamas to release all hostages will begin after the Israeli government ratifies the deal, which it is expected to do on Thursday.
Family members of some of the hostages said they are "encouraged" by the developments, but remain in a "state of cautious optimism."
"We have to keep the eyes on the ball to make sure this deal is fully consummated and nobody screwed up," Rotem Cooper, whose son, Amiram Cooper, is being held hostage, said in a video statement on Thursday.
Cooper added that this is a "historic day" in Israel.
"We're still processing it, we still can't believe it, but it's happening, and we need to make sure it's gonna happen,” Cooper said.
Once the deal is approved by the Israeli government, the cessation of all fighting by the IDF and Hamas will go into effect, according to an Israeli official.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office confirmed in a statement that Herzog met on Thursday with President Donald Trump’s special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff at his residence in Jerusalem.
During their meeting, Herzog and the U.S. envoys discussed the framework of the agreement to secure the return of the hostages and to bring about an end to the war with Hamas, according to the statement.
Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Witkoff were also meeting on Thursday with Netanyahu, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
In a statement, Netanyahu's office said Witkoff and Kushner attended the Israeli cabinet meeting earlier Thursday. The office also released photos of the two U.S. envoys at the meeting.
Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of the deal, in which all remaining hostages -- alive and dead -- will be released from Gaza in exchange for an as-yet undetermined number of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. Nearly 2,000 prisoners are believed to be under discussion for release.
The Israel Defense Forces will also pull back to the so-called "yellow line" in Gaza -- a reference to a proposed ceasefire map released by the White House last month showing multiple stages of withdrawal. The full details of the agreed-to deal have not been made public and the exact location of that "line" may have shifted during the negotiations.
The 20 hostages thought to still be alive are therefore expected to be released all in one group, the official said.
In his first comments since the agreement was reached, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ chief negotiator, said his group had "received guarantees from the mediating brothers and from the U.S. administration, all of whom confirm that the war has completely ended," according to Reuters.
Al-Hayya also confirmed that Hamas and Israel will "begin implementing a permanent ceasefire" and that the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border will be reopened in both directions. As part of the agreement, Israel will withdraw its forces in Gaza to a predetermined "Yellow Line" within the Gaza territory.
Al-Hayya said Israel has agreed to release 250 Palestinians serving long-term sentences and 1,700 additional prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023, in addition to the release of all Palestinian children and women, according to Reuters.
During a meeting with his Cabinet on Thursday afternoon, Trump said he expects the Israeli hostages to be released on Monday or Tuesday.
"Getting them is a complicated process. I'd rather not tell you what they have to do to get them," Trump told his Cabinet members. "They're in places you don't want to be. But we are getting the hostages back on Monday or Tuesday, and that will be a day of joy."
The president said that in addition to those hostages still alive, he expects Hamas to also turn over the remains of 28 people who died while being held hostage, "mostly young, mostly men and boys."
"To those parents, the dead young man is just as important as the person alive," Trump said.
Trump said he is planning to travel to the Middle East, but is still working on the timing.
"We're going to go to Egypt, where we'll have a signing, an additional signing," Trump said, referring to the proposed ceasefire agreement. "We've already had a signing representing me, but we're going to have an official signing."
The president thanked members of his Cabinet, whom he said were instrumental in the negotiations, specifically Secretary of State Marco Rubio; the administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff; and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
He also thanked all of the countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for their work in forging the proposed ceasefire deal.
"I think it's going to be a lasting peace, hopefully an everlasting peace in the Middle East," Trump said. "So, it's really been something incredible that nobody thought was possible to get it done."
An Israeli official told ABC News that the IDF will have 24 hours to move to the yellow line once the deal is ratified by the government.
"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!" Trump said in a post to social media on Wednesday night, explaining the first phase of the agreement.
"This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen," the post continued.
Key Arab and Muslim states said in supportive statements that they would back the White House plan, all pressing Hamas to accept the blueprint that could end more than two years of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip, which has been largely destroyed by Israeli offensives since the war began after Hamas' surprise terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Intense strikes across Gaza continued on Thursday, even as the final elements of the deal were hammered out by negotiators in Egypt.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News' Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
