Israel, Hamas agree on first phase of Gaza ceasefire deal

• Israel and Hamas have agreed to a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

• Trump confirmed on social media that both parties had committed to the first phase of his peace plan, which includes an Israeli troop withdrawal to a mutually agreed line.

• His comments came at the end of a third day of indirect talks between Hamas and Israel in Egypt, where in addition to US mediators, representatives from Qatar and Turkey also steered the talks.

• Israel’s Cabinet has approved Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

• The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the announcement from Trump that Israel and Hamas have “signed off” on the first phase of his 20-point peace plan, following days of intensive indirect negotiations in Egypt.

• Trump unveiled the 20-point peace proposal to end the Gaza conflict following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on September 29. 

• The first phase of Trump's initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza calls for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and the start of a withdrawal of Israeli troops.

• Gazans and Israelis celebrated the news that a ceasefire deal has been reached between the Hamas political leadership and Israel.

• UN aid agencies underscored their readiness to inundate the famine-hit enclave with relief supplies, while urging the immediate release of all hostages.

• Around 170,000 metric tonnes of food, medicine, shelter and other desperately needed supplies are on standby, poised to enter the decimated Strip from across the region.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Trump and Netanyahu on the progress made under the peace plan.

Two years of Gaza-Israel war

• The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked worldwide protests.

• More than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the terror attacks by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023 and more than 250 others were taken hostage.

• More than 66,000 Palestinians have subsequently been killed in the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

• Amid violence and airstrikes, UN humanitarian and health officials said that children were paying the heaviest price, with tens of thousands killed, maimed or severely malnourished, while Gaza’s hospitals and clinics edge towards total collapse.

• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still partially operating — none in northern Gaza — and just 62 primary health-care centres remain partly functional, compared with a pre-war total of 176.

• Official figures confirm 400 malnutrition-related deaths since January 2025, including 101 children, 80 of them under five. 

• Over 10,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the past two months, and about 2,400 severely malnourished children are at risk of starvation.