Gaza ceasefire plan live: Israel says it is preparing to pull back troops; living hostages could be released within days

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Here are some more images being shared on the newswires today:

Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out attacks on several areas across the Gaza Strip despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza City, Gaza on Thursday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Israeli soldiers work on a tank near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, on Thursday. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

People react at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday, after news of a Gaza ceasefire deal. Photograph: Maya Levin/AFP/Getty Images

Displaced Palestinians await the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA

Israel says cabinet to meet on Thursday to discuss 'plan for the release of all Israeli hostages' in Gaza

Israel’s cabinet will meet on Thursday at 3pm GMT to discuss a plan to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, a government statement said after US president Donald Trump announced a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

An announcement posted on the Israeli government website said:

Government meeting at 18:00 (1500 GMT). Agenda – Plan for the release of all Israeli hostages.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced overnight that he would be convening a cabinet meeting Thursday to approve a plan for the release of hostages.

Diplomats from the US, Canada, Europe and Arab states are gathering in Paris today for a meeting that will focus on the implementation of the “day after” plans set out by the UN, which are separate and different from US president Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.

The talks in Egypt have largely been focused on the prisoner and hostage releases, but the discussions in Paris have focused on other issues including the Hamas handover of weapons, its exclusion from future administrations, the mandate of an international peacekeeping force, the delivery of resumed aid flows and any future relationship between Gaza and the West Bank as the nucleus of a future Palestinian state. On almost all these issues there are deep differences between Israel and the US on the one hand and Europe and the Arab states on the other.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, will now not attend the Paris meeting – something blamed on the US government shutdown. Other US officials will attend.

European leaders are anxious that, as in the case of Ukraine, they are not squeezed out of the talks, and they are involved in the second phase of the peace plan about the political and institutional backdrop to the reconstruction of Gaza.

At the centre of the discussions about Gaza’s future is former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who is due to sit on Trump’s “Board of Peace” or interim government that will oversee a group of technocrats that help implement reconstruction plans.

Arab leaders are want the international stabilisation force to have a UN security council mandate, and there is a clear plan to treat Gaza and the West Bank as one political entity.

One of the most difficult issues is the timing of the hand-over of weapons by Hamas, including the body to which the weapons are handed, and whether personal weapons will be included. Amnesties may be granted to those that disavow violence.

Hamas may be willing to supply weapons to an Arab run ISF, but not to Israel. Work is also under way on a revised constitution and elections for the Palestinian Authority, the heavily criticised political entity based in the West Bank opposed to the Islamist Hamas in Gaza.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews president Phil Rosenberg has reacted to the news that Hamas and Israel have agreed to the ‘first phase’ of a plan to pause fighting and release some hostages and prisoners.

In a statement released on Thursday, Rosenberg said:

The overnight news of an agreement to bring an end to the nightmare unleashed by Hamas on 7 October means that for the first time in two years, we can dare to hope for the release of all the hostages, and the conclusion of this terrible war.

We convey our deep appreciation to President Trump, the mediators, and most of all, the indefatigable campaigning of the hostage families whose courage, resilience, and determination has been a beacon to the world.

We will celebrate the return of those living and praying for their swift recovery and care, and we will mourn the returning dead, thinking of their loved ones in their time of grief.

It is time for healing. It is time for peace.

Reuters has a breaking news line from an Israeli official who has said the release of 20 Israeli hostages from Gaza is expected on Sunday or Monday.

More details soon …

WHO ready to 'scale up' health response after Gaza ceasefire, says director general

The World Health Organization (WHO) director general hailed on Thursday the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas as “a big step towards lasting peace”, saying his agency was prepared to “scale up” health assistance in Gaza.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X:

WHO stands ready to scale up its work to meet the dire health needs of patients across Gaza, and to support rehabilitation of the destroyed health system.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that Germany is still observing the situation regarding the Gaza ceasfire deal but is confident a solution will be found this week.

“We are encouraged by the developments in Israel. There is obviously a great chance of reaching an agreement with Hamas in the next few hours,” Merz said after a meeting with senior members of his governing coalition in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday hailed the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying he hoped “this marks the beginning of a just and lasting peace”. He added:

Now it is time to engage in dialogue, to support the civilian population, and to look to the future with hope. But also with justice and with remembrance, so that the atrocities experienced are never repeated.

The Spanish leader is one of the most vocal critics in Europe of Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.

UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said the Gaza ceasefire plan must be implemented as quickly as possible.

Speaking to reporters at Hillsborough Castle, where she is hosting a western Balkans summit, the foreign secretary said:

The agreement on the first phase of President [Donald] Trump’s peace initiative is a moment of profound significance, relief and hope. And I want to pay tribute to the negotiators from the US, from Qatar, from Egypt, from Turkey, and all the many nations who have been working so hard over many months to help get to this point.

After two years of the most devastating suffering, with tens of thousands of lives being lost, with the pain of hostages held for so long, and with the humanitarian crisis taking place, the agreement now to a ceasefire, to the restoration of humanitarian aid and to the release of all the hostages is immensely important and must be implemented as swiftly as possible.

She added:

Later today I will be travelling from here with the German foreign minister, my colleague, to Paris for the discussions later today about how all nations can support the immensely work that has been done thus far on President Trump’s peace initiative, but also how we make sure that we take it forward.

Cooper added that the UK “stands ready to play our part” in implementing the Gaza ceasefire plan.

The UK will help realise not just the initial phase of the plan to end fighting in Gaza, she said, “but also on the crucial work going forward now on phase two as well”.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, she said:

Because that work will continue as nations across the world come together to support a just and lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

We have seen some of the images of relief and hope on the streets of Gaza and on the streets of Israel overnight, and all nations will want to make sure that that is turned into reality.

Macron says hopes Gaza peace plan will lead to 'political solution based on the two-state solution'

Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he welcomed the agreement to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, adding France will continue to hold talks with international partners to seek a political solution to the war.

French president Emmanuel Macron said the Gaza ceasefire plan ‘must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution’. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters

Macron said in posts on social media platform X:

Great hope for the hostages and their families, for the Palestinians in Gaza, and for the entire region. I welcome the agreement reached overnight for the release of the hostages and the ceasefire in Gaza, and I commend the efforts of President @realDonaldTrump, as well as the Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators who helped make it happen.

I call on all parties to strictly uphold its terms. This agreement must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution. France stands ready to contribute to this goal. We will discuss it this afternoon in Paris with our international partners.

Palestinian president Abbas welcomes Gaza deal

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas hailed a Gaza ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Hamas on Thursday, saying he hoped it could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) report that in a statement on social media, Abbas “welcomed the announcement by US President Donald Trump of an agreement to cease the war on the Gaza Strip,” and “expressed hope that these efforts would be a prelude to reaching a permanent political solution … leading to an end to the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state”.