Families and children gathered amid the rubble to celebrate survival and the long-awaited relief after two years in the Israeli genocidal war on the strip, which started its third year on Tuesday.
After intense negotiations in Egypt's resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on the first phase of US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan to end the war.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the agreement provides for the release of all captives “soon” and for Israeli forces to withdraw to “an agreed line,” calling it the first step toward a “strong, durable, and everlasting peace.”
He added that all parties “will be treated fairly,” describing the day as “a great day for the Arab and Muslim world, for Israel, for the United States, and for all neighboring nations.”
Trump also thanked the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey for their role in reaching what he called “a historic and unprecedented event,” ending his message with the phrase “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
The announcement came amid diplomatic efforts intensified in recent days to reach a comprehensive deal to end the war.
Top officials from Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Turkey have been mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since Monday to reach an agreement to end the war.
On Friday, Hamas stated its agreement to release all remaining Israeli captives, alive and dead, in response to President Trump's plan to end the war.
The Trump announcement on Thursday of a deal between Hamas and Israel comes amid growing international condemnation of the Israeli genocidal war and starvation policies against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed over 67,000 Palestinians dead, and wounded nearly 168,000 others, mostly women and children, since 7 October 2023.
Two years of Israeli carpet bombing destroyed most homes and infrastructure and displaced most of the 2.3 million population.
In tandem, an Israeli blockade on the entry of food, water, and medicince has plunged the population into famine, the first-ever in the Middle East.
Shortly after the US president's announcement, Hamas issued a statement saying it had reached an agreement to end the war on Gaza after what it described as “responsible and serious” negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh over President Trump's proposal.
According to the Palestinian resistance group, the deal includes a complete cessation of the Israeli war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the entry of humanitarian aid, and a prisoner exchange between the resistance and Israel.
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