Israelis celebrate following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Gaza ceasefire deal in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 9, 2025. Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed to a Gaza ceasefire deal, offering a tentative path toward ending the two-year conflict that has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, injured almost 170,000 others, and left the enclave in ruins. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

CAIRO, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed to a Gaza ceasefire deal, offering a tentative path toward ending the two-year conflict that has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, injured almost 170,000 others, and left the enclave in ruins.

The deal on the "first phase" of a U.S.-backed peace plan, coming after intense negotiations in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States, outlines a phased Israeli withdrawal, while establishing mechanisms for prisoner exchanges and humanitarian aid delivery.

While both Gazans and Israelis are experiencing moments of emotional release, political divisions within Israel's coalition government and Hamas's demand for international guarantees have somehow threatened to undermine the implementation process.

Besides, the enormous task of rebuilding Gaza and determining its political future looms large, testing whether the deal can evolve from temporary ceasefire to lasting peace.

THE PATH TO A DEAL

Both Israeli and Hamas's officials have indicated that the ceasefire deal is set for Israeli government ratification. The Israeli side said the ceasefire will take effect within 24 hours after its security cabinet votes Thursday afternoon on the agreement in a meeting, whereas Hamas said the ceasefire will take effect immediately upon Israeli government approval.

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV, political resistance within Netanyahu's coalition, including from far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatens to complicate the voting process, but the deal will still secure majority support.

The deal establishes detailed reciprocal obligations. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Qatar's Alaraby Television Network in an interview on Thursday that Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza City, northern Gaza, as well as southern Gaza's Rafah and Khan Younis, while five border crossings will reopen for humanitarian aid.

"Drone operations in the Gaza Strip's airspace will cease during the prisoner release process," which will involve "250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 other prisoners," he added.

Informed Palestinian sources told Xinhua that Hamas has provided mediators with prisoner lists "according to agreed criteria," awaiting final approval, and has begun relocating Israeli detainees to safe locations ahead of handover to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that three Israeli army divisions have started pulling out of Gaza City since Wednesday night in preparation for redeployment around Khan Younis.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Thursday that it has "begun operational preparations" for the first of a three-phase withdrawal from Gaza, adding that "preparations and combat protocols are underway to transition to adjusted deployment lines soon."

However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also ordered the military to respond with "great force" to any potential threat or attack by Hamas in Gaza against Israeli forces.

According to an Israeli government spokeswoman, hostages would probably begin being released on Saturday or Sunday.

Hospitals in the Tel Aviv area, where the hostages are expected to arrive for medical checks and recovery, also said they are making preparations.

VOICES FROM THE GROUND

In central Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, family members of Israeli hostages embraced as reports spread of their loved ones' imminent return. Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, and Anat and Haggai Angrest, parents of soldier Matan Angrest, burst into tears of excitement in a video shared online.

"Matan and Matan are on their way home," Zangauker said. "From now on, this square will be called the Square of Hope!"

In Gaza, news of the ceasefire triggered spontaneous celebrations amid the ruins. "I want to cry and dance at the same time," Hussein al-Hindi, a 45-year-old displaced carpenter and father of three from the town of al-Zawaida in central Gaza, told Xinhua.

"For two years, we lived without sleep, listening only to explosions and the screams of the wounded," said al-Hindi, who now lives in a makeshift tent. "I still can't believe the war has truly stopped ... I wake up every morning expecting the airstrikes to begin again. All we want now is to rebuild our homes, send our children back to school, and live normal lives."

Yet for the many more Gazans traumatized by the devastating conflict, the joy hearing the news is just a flash in the pan. Abdul Majeed Haniyeh, a 52-year-old man from Deir al-Balah, who lost his teenage son in an Israeli airstrike last year, wept as he told Xinhua: "Nothing can compensate for the loss of my child, but at least no other fathers will bury their sons tonight."

Many Gazans have expressed cautious optimism, aware that previous truces have collapsed and that rebuilding their shattered lives will take years.

"The Gaza we knew no longer exists," Abed Dahman, a displaced father of five from Khan Younis, told Xinhua outside his tent. "We have to start from zero ... What we need now is not just promises but real reconstruction and a future for our children."

Despite the deal, 11 people were killed and 49 others injured by Israeli assaults across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 13 wounded while seeking aid, Gaza-based health authorities said Thursday.

The conflict, erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 when a large-scale Hamas attack on southern Israel killed roughly 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, has destroyed about 80 percent of Gaza's infrastructure and displaced nearly 2 million residents, apart from creating human casualties, according to UN estimates.

GUARDED OPTIMISM FROM MIDDLE EAST

The ceasefire deal has drawn widespread support from regional countries and organizations, which see it as a potential opening for broader political progress.

Hamdan described the deal as "the fruit of the steadfastness and sacrifices of the Palestinian people over two years of ongoing Israeli aggression," while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the deal to become "a prelude to reaching a permanent political solution."

In a press statement, Abbas emphasized the need to establish an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, stressing that "sovereignty over Gaza belongs to the State of Palestine." He also outlined key requirements for the deal's success: immediate implementation, release of all hostages and prisoners, unrestricted humanitarian access, and a clear reconstruction process.

Jordan and Iraq emphasized the importance of full commitment to the deal and the urgency of addressing Gaza's humanitarian crisis, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to "closely monitor the strict implementation of the agreement," and continue contributing to the process as well as advocating for Palestinian statehood.

Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Oman also endorsed the deal. Egypt called it "a pivotal moment in the war of Gaza," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun hoped the agreement "will serve as a first step towards a permanent ceasefire," whereas the latter two highlighted the deal's potential to facilitate aid delivery and regional stability.

The Arab League also welcomed the breakthrough, with Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit calling it "good news for the people in Gaza after two years of bloodshed."

Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini on Thursday called the deal "a respite" for Gaza's traumatized population.

The UNRWA has three months of supplies ready for immediate distribution, Lazzarini said in a press statement, urging the international community to support the agency in carrying out its work and assisting those in need during this critical period ahead.

However, analysts have cautioned that the deal represents only a first step. Gaza-based Palestinian political analyst Hussam al-Dajani told Xinhua that the deal, although marking an important step toward ending the war, "does not mean the conflict is over."

"Implementing the deal on the ground requires concrete international guarantees to ensure both sides' commitment," al-Dajani said. "Past experiences show that without monitoring, truces collapse quickly."

Gaza now faces two simultaneous challenges: rebuilding its devastated infrastructure and reorganizing its internal political situation, he said. "Ending the war does not end the suffering ... Gaza needs more than words; it needs a sustained international effort to ensure this tragedy is not repeated."

Yemeni political analyst Yasin Al-Tamimi said while the deal marks a diplomatic breakthrough, "the possibility of continued confrontation remains ... as the political and security dynamics that fueled this conflict are far from resolved."

"A genuine peace process requires a just solution to the Palestinian issue ... Without this, any U.S. initiative is bound to fail," Al-Tamimi told Xinhua.

Nabil al-Bukiri, director of the Arab Forum for Studies and Development, offered a more skeptical view, describing the U.S. role in the deal as more of political posturing and lacking sincerity and substance.

"Without addressing the root of the conflict -- the occupation and denial of Palestinian rights," he said, "talk of comprehensive peace remains an illusion."