HOPE REKINDLED: People celebrate Israel-Hamas deal announcement in Tel Aviv and (R) in Gaza Strip’s Khan Younis
US President Trump said on Thursday the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt and address the Israeli Knesset.Trump opened a White House cabinet meeting by discussing a deal reached on Wednesday under which the hostages held by Hamas militants are to be released in the first phase of a broader Gaza plan. He said he believed it would lead to “lasting peace.” Trump said under the plan, Gaza is going to be “slowly redone,” a reference to plans to rebuild the Palestinian enclave. He did not provide details other than to say “we’re going to create something where people can live. You can’t live right now in Gaza.”Hamas is expected to release the 20 living hostages together, 72 hours after the ceasefire begins. “We are getting the hostages back on Tuesday-Monday or Tuesday — and that’ll be aday of joy,” Trump said.Trump said it may be difficult to retrieve all the remains of the hostages who died in captivity immediately, “because some of the bodies are going to be a little bit hard to find.”He said he was going to try to make the trip there to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt. The White House has been scrambling to work out the details of the hastily arranged trip. The Israeli Knesset has asked Trump to speak, and the president said he was planning to do so if requested.While questions remain about what happens in the region in the long term, Trump said he hoped it would lead to “an everlasting peace.”Meanwhile, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, that a ceasefire was in effect as of Thursday.Army troops will start withdrawing from their positions in the 24 hours following the start of the truce, an Israeli official said, asking not to be identified by name discussing sensitive matters. A source within Hamas told AFP the group will exchange 20 living hostages all at the same time for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, with the swap to happen within 72 hours of the plan’s implementation.Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would bring the hostages home “with God’s help”, and an official source added the premier’s cabinet would meet Thursday to approve the deal.“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing,” said Abdul Majeed Abd Rabbo in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. “I am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire.” Einav Zaugauker, whose son Matan is one of the last hostages, rejoiced in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostages Square, where families of those seized in the Hamas attack that triggered the war two years ago have long assembled. “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, Ican’t explain what I’m feeling … it’s crazy,” she said. By Thursday afternoon, crowds of Israelis were gathering on the square in anticipation of govt’s announcement that it had ratified the deal.The Gaza health ministry said at least three Palestinians were killed on Thursday.An Israeli govt spokesperson said the ceasefire would go into force within 24 hours of govt meeting. After that 24hour period, the hostages held in Gaza would be freed within 72 hours. Twenty Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, while 26 are presumed dead, and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead may take longer.
