Israel, Hamas prepare to implement Gaza ceasefire agreement

Israel and Hamas are preparing to implement a Gaza ceasefire agreement, with an official signing ceremony expected later Thursday in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh following three days of intensive negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Qatar’s Alaraby Television Network in an interview on Thursday that the ceasefire will take effect immediately upon Israeli government approval.

The first phase of the agreement includes Israeli withdrawal from “Gaza City, the north, Rafah, and Khan Younis, and the opening of five crossings for the entry of humanitarian aid,” with international agencies overseeing aid distribution, he said.

“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 already provided mediators with prisoner lists “according to agreed criteria,” awaiting final approval.

Zaher Jabarin, head of Hamas’s Martyrs and Prisoners’ Affairs Office, confirmed the movement “has fulfilled its part and will announce the names once procedures are completed.”

A Hamas official told Xinhua that the final negotiation sessions “resolved all pending issues after long discussions on withdrawal maps, prisoner guarantees, and humanitarian aid mechanisms,” noting the Rafah crossing will later reopen in both directions for medical transfers.

Hamas has started moving Israeli hostages to secure areas in the Gaza Strip in anticipation of turning them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the next few days, a source close to the organization told Xinhua on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Security Cabinet will vote on the agreement at 17:00 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Thursday, according to an Israeli government official who spoke to Xinhua. The full government is anticipated to gather approximately an hour later for a second round of voting.

According to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the captives should be released on Sunday or Monday.

According to Israel’s state-run radio station Kan Bet, the Israeli army would keep troops in roughly half of Gaza until all Israeli captives are freed, and it will start a phased pullout from other areas of the territory within 24 hours following the signing ceremony.

In particular, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said that three divisions have started to leave Gaza City since Wednesday evening in anticipation of a redeployment in the southern region near Khan Younis.