Israeli government approves hostage and ceasefire deal

The United States believes this week's Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release agreement was possible because Hamas "was at that place where they wanted to do a deal," a senior U.S. official told reporters.

"They were almost looking at the hostages less as an asset and more as a liability," the official said. "Once we detected that, it wasn't about trying to take advantage of anybody."

Israel's full government, convened early Friday local time by Prime Minister Netanyahu, voted to approve the Gaza peace deal brokered by President Trump, which was signed by both Israeli and Hamas officials earlier in the day in Egypt.  

"The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased," Netanyahu's office said.

Israeli officials had said earlier that once the full Israeli coalition government had voted to approve the deal, the ceasefire would take effect in Gaza, halting two years of war that has killed more than 67,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to its Hamas-run Health Ministry. 

The ceasefire will see Israel withdraw its troops from western parts of Gaza to a line agreed by both sides within 24 hours. Once that is completed, Hamas will have 72 hours to hand over the 48 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

About 200 U.S. service members will serve at a civil-military coordination center in Israel to support stabilization efforts for Gaza and monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. 

"U.S. Central Command is establishing a civil-military coordination center (CMCC) in Israel to support stabilization efforts for Gaza following the Oct. 8 announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The U.S. will not deploy U.S. military personnel into Gaza," a U.S. official told CBS News.

The CMCC will help "facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance into Gaza. The coordination center will also monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and transition to civilian governance," the official said.

Military personnel were headed to Israel on Thursday and would continue arriving through the weekend to establish the center, a second U.S. official told CBS News. 

The speaker of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, has officially invited President Trump to address the Israeli government, writing it would be "my profound honor and privilege to invite you to officially invite you to deliver a formal address to the nation before the Knesset," according to a letter the speaker shared.

In the letter, Amir Ohana cited not only the recent peace proposal, but also Mr. Trump's previous controversial decisions to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, "affirming our sovereignty over the Golan Heights," and the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Most countries keep their embassies in Tel Aviv, as Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as their capital city. The decision to move the U.S. embassy during Mr. Trump's first term sparked protests in the region.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war in the Middle East and later annexed the territory in 1981. Most of the international community, although not the U.S., considers the annexation illegal.

Mr. Trump earlier in the day said he would address the Knesset if asked to do so. Mr. Trump would be the first sitting U.S. president to address the Knesset since former President George W. Bush did so in 2008.

Former President Barack Obama said Thursday that "we should all be encouraged and relieved" that an end to the Gaza conflict "is within sight," that aid can start reaching people inside the Palestinian territory and that Israeli hostages can reunite with their families.

"More than that, though, it now falls on Israelis and Palestinians, with the support of the U.S. and the entire world community, to begin the hard task of rebuilding Gaza – and to commit to a process that, by recognizing the common humanity and basic rights of both peoples, can achieve a lasting peace," he said in a post on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office shared a photo of the prime minister meeting with President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a statement that he will not vote to approve the peace plan because of the provision calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners. 

"I and the ministers of Otzma Yehudit [Ben-Gvir's political party] will not be able to raise our hands in favor of a deal that releases those murderous terrorists, and we will oppose it in the government," he wrote on social media.

Ben-Gvir also said he remained committed to "the dismantling of Hamas rule."

"In conversations that took place between me and the Prime Minister in recent days, I clarified that under no circumstances will I be part of a government that allows the continued existence of Hamas rule in Gaza. This is a glaring red line. The Prime Minister committed to me that this is how it will be," he wrote.

"If Hamas rule is not dismantled, or if they just tell us that it has been dismantled while in practice it continues to exist under another guise—Otzma Yehudit will dismantle the government," he added.

The far-right party controls six of 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. 

The full Israeli government is expected to vote soon on whether to approve the plan.

Seated in the Oval Office alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the president told reporters he hopes to be present after the hostages taken from Israel by Hamas are released.

"The hostages will be coming back Monday or Tuesday. I'll probably be there," the president said. "I hope to be there. And we're planning on leaving sometime Sunday. And I look forward to it." 

In a video address aired on Al-Jazeera, key Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said he has received assurances from the mediators and American officials that, if the peace plan is approved, the war in Gaza is "completely over." 

He said that, according to the agreement, the Rafah border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border will open to allow aid to enter the Palestinian territory and for the exchange of prisoners.

Al-Hayya said Israel has agreed to release 250 prisoners serving life sentences, along with another 1,700 Palestinians arrested after Oct. 7, 2023.

An air strike hit a house in Gaza City on Thursday night local time, according to Gaza's civil defense, which is part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

Around 40 people were missing or trapped under the rubble, Gaza's civil defense said. Two women were recovered.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike, saying it "struck a Hamas terrorist cell in the northern Gaza Strip that was operating in close proximity to IDF troops and posed an immediate threat to the troops operating in the area."

The strike took place as the Israeli government was expected to soon vote on the first phase of the agreement to halt the war in Gaza.

Hamas said in a statement following the strike, "The systematic massacres committed by the occupation reveal its government's insistence on continuing the genocide until the very last moment."

"The occupation government aims, through the massacre in western Gaza City, to disrupt the efforts of mediators and hinder attempts to implement the agreement," the statement said.

— Claire Day

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with the Israeli security council has ended, local Israeli media reported Thursday night local time. 

The full Israeli government is now set to gather to vote on the peace plan.

Speaking to his Cabinet, the president said he'll speak before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, if they so wish. 

"They've asked me to speak at the Knesset, and I'll, you know, I've agreed to, if they would like me to, I will do it," the president said. "... So I will, I will do it, if they want me to, they have asked me to do that." 

Planning for the president's trip to the Middle East remains fluid, four sources familiar said. But the idea of the president stopping  in Gaza, which he mentioned himself, has now been ruled out, the sources said. 

As of now, the plan is for the president to travel Sunday and Monday, likely without staying overnight anywhere in the Middle East during the trip, the sources said. He will make stops in both Egypt and Israel.

Taking questions from reporters at Cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump was asked his view on the possibility of a two-state solution, which would establish a separate, independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"I don't have a view, I'm going to go with what they agreed to," the president told reporters.

Many of the U.S.'s allies around the world, along with the United Nations, still consider the creation of a separate Palestinian state as the only viable way to end the eight-decade-old conflict and secure peace in the region. Pressure has mounted to make that a reality over the last year, with a number of nations — including the U.K. and Canada —  recognizing a Palestinian state unilaterally.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, has repeatedly made clear he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.

Speaking alongside President Trump during a Cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Gaza peace agreement wouldn't have been possible without the president's involvement. Rubio said Mr. Trump's trip to Arab Gulf States this May got the ball rolling, as well as a meeting with leaders from Muslim-majority nations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last month. 

"It really began with your trip to the Middle East, where these relationships were forged with partners in the region, personal relationships, close relationships that created the foundation where all of this was possible," Rubio said to Mr. Trump. "It really took a turn about a month ago — less, less than a couple weeks ago — is when we were at the United Nations, and you convened an historic meeting, not simply of Arab countries but of Muslim-majoirty countries from around the world … and created this coalition behind this plan. Then on that following Monday, you met with the prime minister of Israel here, and that plan was presented. And then of course our great negotiating team followed up on it."

"In the interim, again, perhaps the stories will be told, perhaps they will never be told, the president had some extraordinary phone calls and meetings that required a high degree of intensity and commitment and made this happen," Rubio said. "And I think what's important to understand is that yesterday what happened is really a human story." 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the ceasefire and hostage release deal "offers a glimmer of relief" for Palestinians and Israelis.

"That glimmer must become the dawn of peace; the beginning of the end of this devastating war," he said Thursday in a post on X. 

Guterres said earlier that the U.N. and its partners were ready to scale up the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. He called for safe access for humanitarian workers in the Palestinian territory, as well as additional funding, the removal of red tape, and the rebuilding of Gaza's infrastructure, The Associated Press reported.

President Trump said Thursday that the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza should be released "Monday or Tuesday," and that the "exact timing" of his trip to the Middle East — specifically to Egypt — was still being worked out. 

"As you know, last night we reached a momentous breakthrough in the Middle East, something that people said was never going to be done," the president said at the opening of his latest Cabinet meeting at the White House. "We ended the war in Gaza and really on a much bigger basis created peace. And I think it's going to be a lasting peace, hopefully an everlasting peace. Peace in the Middle East. We've secured the release of all of the remaining hostages and they should 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."

"That will be a day of joy, I'm going to try and make a trip over," Mr. Trump added. "Working on the timing, the exact timing. Going to go to Egypt, where we'll have a signing, an additional signing." 

Israeli and Hamas officials signed the peace deal agreement earlier Thursday in Egypt's resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The president expressed gratitude to Qatar, Turkey and Egypt for helping. 

President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived Thursday in Israel from Egypt, where they took part in discussions to secure the Israel-Hamas peace deal this week, according to Israeli media, citing tracking data that showed Witkoff's plane landing in the country.

Both men met earlier in the day with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi before flying to Israel.

Egypt and Qatar helped broker the agreement along with the Trump administration.

Israeli media reported widely on Thursday that Prime Minister Netanyahu had convened his security cabinet to consider the details of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement announced the previous evening by President Trump.

He is expected to convene a second meeting of his full government soon afterward, for a formal vote on the plan.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu's office said earlier that the ceasefire would formally take effect after that vote and Israel would pull its forces back to the predetermined line within Gaza within 24 hours. Once that limited withdrawal is complete, the spokesperson said the 72-hour countdown for Hamas to hand over all remaining Israeli hostages would begin.

A post on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's X account called on Thursday for President Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

It followed news that Israeli and Hamas delegations had signed the "first phase" agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, brokered by Mr. Trump.

The post on the prime minister's account featured an apparently AI-generated image of Netanyahu appearing to drape an oversized Nobel Prize on a gold chain around Mr. Trump's neck, surrounded by revelers.

U.S. officials have told CBS News that Mr. Trump would like to win the international plaudit, which is being announced on Friday, but another source told CBS News' Robert Costa that many in the White House feel he's unlikely to get a "fair hearing" by the Nobel Committee.

President Trump plans to travel to Israel and Egypt to mark the signing of the Gaza peace plan, U.S. officials tell CBS News.

"I'll be going to Egypt, most likely, that's where everybody is gathered right now," Mr. Trump told reporters at a roundtable event on Wednesday. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said in a statement that Trump was "considering going to the Middle East" on Friday.

Several administration officials told CBS News on Thursday that the turning point that led to the Gaza peace deal was the Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar in early September.

Sources told CBS News Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs that the attack, which was condemned by Qatar, a close U.S. ally, and many other states in the region, created a "positive opportunity" and led to maximum pressure from Mr. Trump to get the peace deal done.

Neither President Trump nor Israeli officials have said when Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza will be eased or lifted entirely as part of the prospective peace agreement with Hamas . 

The leaders of other countries were quick to call for that to happen on Thursday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying his country would "hopefully" take part in the monitoring of "the implementation of the agreement on the ground."

He said getting aid materials into Gaza — where the United Nations-backed body that assesses global food security declared a famine in August — was vital and urgent.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday that the deal announced by Mr. Trump must be implemented in full without delay, and accompanied by the immediate lifting of all restrictions on humanitarian aid flowing into the Palestinian enclave.

Speaking Wednesday with CBS News' Haley Ott from the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson for the United Nations' Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said the agency had many tons of relief material ready and waiting to be sent into Gaza when a peace agreement takes effect.

"No humanitarian assistance will take the place of peace," OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko told CBS News, "and this opportunity that has been provided through President Trump's initiative ... this peace plan is something that we are harnessing and we are ready to deliver at scale. We have 170,000 metric tons of various supplies basically poised to enter Gaza as soon as a ceasefire is implemented."

Cherevko said OCHA was "ready to go, and we've been ready to go for some time."

Asked by CBS News on Thursday morning whether he remained confident as the day began about things continuing to move forward on the peace deal, President Trump said, in a text message, "yes, very much so."

Several sources close to the president told CBS News that based on conversations Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the president understands there might be challenges ahead and complications in completing the hostage release and ceasefire deal, but he believes it will move forward.

For him, one key source said, "it's not about some chess game or being a wannabe [Henry] Kissinger, but about sort of willing people into actions they don't want to take through the force of his personality."

The source said Mr. Trump's unorthodox ways and unpredictability were key components of his strategy.

In private, the source added, Mr. Trump speaks often about how to end "all the death" in the Middle East, and has told some associates that his presidency might be remembered for his pursuit of peace more than anything else.

Mr. Trump very much would like to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize, but expectations inside the White House are low that he would get a "fair hearing" by the Nobel Committee, as another source put it.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner is due to be announced on Friday. Nominations for the prize had been finalized before the Israel-Hamas deal was announced.

Even as the Israeli government prepared to ratify a deal to end the two-year war, the IDF continued carrying out strikes in Gaza on Thursday, with explosions reported in the north of the Palestinian territory. 

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties caused by the strikes.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, said Israel was still hitting targets that posed a threat to troops as they reposition within Gaza.

Israel's far-right nationalist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a long statement shared Thursday on social media that he would not vote in favor of the ceasefire deal brokered by President Trump.

Smotrich, who along with fellow cabinet member Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister of National Security, has long opposed any negotiated truce with Hamas, said he had "mixed emotions" Thursday morning.

"Immense joy for the return of all our abducted brothers," he said, was accompanied by "great fear of the consequences of emptying prisons and releasing the next generation of terror leadership, which will do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood," referring, it seemed, to the Israeli agreement to release many Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the handover of the remaining hostages.

"For this reason alone, we cannot join the short-sighted celebrations and vote in favor of the deal," Smotrich said, stressing that his Religious Zionist Party would seek to ensure "that this is not, God forbid, a deal of 'hostages in exchange for stopping the war,' as Hamas thinks and boasts."

He called for Israel to "strive with all its might for the true eradication of Hamas and the genuine disarmament of Gaza, so that it no longer poses a threat to Israel" as soon as all of the hostages were returned.

Ben-Gvir has not publicly indicated how he will vote, but a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said he was also expected to oppose the deal.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a statement Thursday that the world was "witnessing a historic moment that embodies the triumph of the will for peace over the logic of war."

Through the dialogue in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, President el-Sisi said an agreement was "reached to establish a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza after two years of suffering and woes, in accordance with the peace plan proposed by President Trump and under the auspices of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States of America."

The Egyptian leader said the deal would "not only close the chapter of war; it also opens the door of hope for the peoples of the region for a future defined by justice and stability."

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations have told CBS News that the ceasefire in Gaza is set to take effect following a formal vote of approval on the agreement by the Israeli government Thursday afternoon local time, around 11 a.m. Eastern. 

Once the ceasefire takes effect, within 24 hours, the Israel Defense Forces would complete the first phase of its partial withdrawal to a predetermined "yellow" line. An official told CBS News that this pullback would include IDF troops leaving Gaza City, the Palestinian enclave's biggest population center and the focus of a recent Israeli ground offensive.

While the final boundaries for the withdrawal have not been confirmed, Mr. Trump shared a map on Oct. 4 showing what he said would be the new Israeli military line, roughly bisecting Gaza from north to south, but with Israeli forces still surrounding the strip on all sides within the enclave's borders.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to convene his security cabinet later Thursday, around 9 a.m. Eastern, and then his full government about two hours later for the formal approval vote. 

According to an Israeli official, the 72-hour countdown for Hamas to release the remaining hostages will begin once the IDF completes its initial withdrawal. 

The release of the 20 living hostages is expected Sunday or Monday. The timing of the corresponding release of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli authorities remained unclear.

For 734 days, the war between Israel and Hamas has meant an endless stream of loss and suffering, displacement and war for the people of Gaza. But overnight, there was relief and joy.

"President Trump has announced the war has ended," said Wael Radwan. "We are so happy, we are overjoyed."

More than anything, Palestinians want the bombs to stop falling.

"Thank God for this ceasefire, for the end to the bloodshed," said Abdelmajid Abedrabbo. "It's not just me … the whole of Gaza will be celebrating."

It was the middle of the night in Israel when the news broke about the agreement on a peace deal, 734 days after the war in Gaza was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.  

Spontaneous celebrations erupted in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square. For so long it had been a place filled with rage and pain as families tirelessly campaigned for their loved ones to come home. But it is also where they kept their hopes  alive.

An even bigger crowd showed up Thursday morning, jubilantly waving both Israeli and U.S. flags, and many people were keen to voice their appreciation to President Trump for brokering the ceasefire deal.

One woman with the American stars and stripes held aloft said she was carrying the flag "to thank President Trump, who forced the Hamas and Israeli government to sign for ending that war and bringing [home] all our kidnapped … I would like to thank him from my heart."

As others danced and sang around them, another woman holding both Israeli and U.S. flags told CBS News that if it wasn't for the Mr. Trump's intervention, "it would never have happened. Only because Trump is brave enough to face the whole bloody world - the evil of the world, he faced all of them, he doesn't care."

She said she believed Mr. Trump's role was vital, "because Bibi [Netanyahu] is a little bit afraid of everything. So, by having Trump next to him, together, they'll fix the world, and nothing will stop them from bringing our people home … because of Trump, the whole world listened."

By CBS News' Debora Patta and Haley Ott

"This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America," President Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform Wednesday night, announcing the agreement between Israel and Hamas. 

Two regional sources told CBS News there was an agreement on all sides in principle on a hostage release, but that procedural issues remained. Once those details are handled, it will be 48 hours before any release starts, the sources said. 

Mr. Trump, in an interview Wednesday night with Fox News host Sean Hannity, said hostages would "probably" be released on Monday, U.S. time, and that the exchange would include the release of the bodies of deceased hostages still held by Hamas.

Mr. Trump told Hannity that other parts of the 20-point Israel-Hamas peace plan he laid out last week — including a committee to oversee governance in Gaza — could be forthcoming, without giving a timeline. 

"I think you're going to see people getting along, and you'll see Gaza being rebuilt," the president said. "People are going to be taken care of. It's going to be a different world."

Majed al-Ansari, an adviser to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, also confirmed the deal on Wednesday, writing on X that an agreement was reached on "the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid."